The widely publicised tragedy, which unfolded on Monday after worried friends summoned police to the family's San Fernando Valley home, may spur an influx of calls to suicide prevention and crisis hot lines from people in similar financial straits, or even other suicides, said Mr Marvin J. Southard, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.
'One of the things we're afraid of is these things sometimes lead to a copycat phenomenon,' Mr Southard said.
'This didn't come out of the blue. Everybody's been affected by the economic crisis in some way.'
The department on Tuesday dispatched crisis response teams to counsel relatives, friends and neighbours of Mr Karthik Rajaram's family, who were found shot to death Monday morning in their home in an upscale gated community in Porter Ranch.
Mr Rajaram, who had master's of business administration degree in finance, once worked for a major accounting firm and for Sony Pictures, and he had been part-owner of a financial holding company.
But he had been out of work for several months, police said.
Men can be particularly affected if they lose their job or investments because their identity tends to be tied to being a good family provider, said Long Beach clinical psychologist Jana Martin.
However, a recent survey by the American Psychological Association found that women reported higher stress levels over money problems because they often manage the family checkbook, Mr Martin added.
The Rajaram case fits into the 'family annihilator' pattern of suicide, said Mr John Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Centre in Washington DC.
In that scenario, a person, usually the father, is so overwhelmed by events beyond his control that he decides his family is better off dead than being left to cope with the problems if he only kills himself.
'Oftentimes it is financially related,' Mr Sugarmann said. 'This is not an uncommon scenario.'
Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Michel Moore described the scene as having a 'terrible impact' on responders and crisis teams were sent on Tuesday to talk with the professionals who witnessed the carnage.
The Los Angeles Unified School District sent counsellors to the schools the two younger children attended.
Mr Moore urged people who spot signs of depression in family and friends to seek help as soon as possible to prevent such tragedies.
'Even if the individuals themselves don't reach out for that assistance, we would ask that people intervene,' Mr Moore said.
Psychologists urge people in financial straits not to panic but to consider how they have weathered tough times before and to look at the concrete steps they can take to find a new job or place to live, Mr Martin said. -- AP