For the Space Book, I'm reading a detailed account the infamous story of Lisa Nowak, astronaut who attacked a woman who was dating her also-an-astronaut ex. One interesting thing that's often left out is that she wasn't just divorced AND jilted, she'd also basically lost her job.
She'd done one shuttle flight, during which several colleagues felt she wasn't a good team player. She had apparently refused to help others with tasks because "I didn't train for that." She had one more shot at a shuttle flight and didn't get it, basically for this reason.
This was important because the shuttle was going to retire soon after, so the job she was trained for was going away. Thus, within about half a year, both her personal and professional life had collapsed. Doesn't excuse (or make sense of) her behavior, but... sheesh.
Little addendum: it's worth noting that many astronauts (and Nowak was precisely this) get their job at the end of a career-spanning trajectory that starts when they are teenagers. This is beyond losing a prestigious dream job. It's like losing your purpose.
Other addendum: we talk a lot about astronaut psych, and one unfortunate thing is that the lone example of a scary psychological break is a woman. There are people with mid-life crisisy stuff, e.g. alcoholism, messy divorces, but I think Nowak is the only violent one.
Though Aldrin once punched a moon hoaxer, but that is the opposite of crazy.
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