Indeed, depression turns us into secretive people who conceal their pain - and their risk. As one blogger wrote a few years ago for a mental health campaign, “People suffering from mental health problems (pull) a shroud of secrecy over their lives in the hope that people don’t find out how they’re really feeling.” My bipolar friend who died by suicide did not.Īs much as I was pained by Tommy’s death, I also found myself vexed as I read comments on his public Facebook page, because some posts highlighted wrong notions about depression and suicide. Capitol, where the congressman was present because he believed it was his duty to count the electoral votes and confirm Joe Biden’s presidential victory.Īn invisible burden: I have a disability everyone can see. It took courage for the Raskins to come forward. The family continued to show courage when, the day after Raskin buried his son, the grieving father found himself caught in the Trump-fueled insurrection at the U.S. The hotline: Finally we can call 988 suicide hotline when we fear that we or a loved one is at riskīecause of the stigma surrounding suicide, many researchers say these numbers are underreported. His depression was 'a kind of relentless torture in the brain for him, and despite very fine doctors and a loving family … the pain became overwhelming and unyielding and unbearable at last.” Misunderstanding depressionĪ friend sent me the Raskins’ message because she knows I’ve been an advocate for openness about not only mental illness - especially depression, which I also suffer from - but also the plague of suicides in this country, which took nearly 50,000 Americans in 2018. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the annual suicide rate increased 35% from 1999 through 2018, with the suicide rate among men nearly four times higher than women. He also had a secret, which ultimately took his life.Īt the end of the statement, the Raskins named the disease that killed their son. Tommy “had a perfect heart, a perfect soul, a riotously outrageous and relentless sense of humor, and a dazzling radiant mind,” they wrote. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Sarah Bloom Raskin, memorialized Tommy in a lengthy post on Medium, introducing many of us to their brilliant and much-loved son. Please look after each other, the animals, and the global poor for me. He left a short note for his family, which read: 'Please forgive me. You can also text the Crisis Text Line at 741741.On the last day of December, 25-year-old Harvard law student Thomas Raskin died by suicide. The number for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 800-273-TALK (8255) There are a number of services available for help. If they don’t share the cause of death, Farinholt said, “it’s important that you respect that and you just provide your condolences.” “Lots of people are just not willing to talk about suicide,” she said. In talking to friends or family members who have had a suicide loss, Farinholt said it’s important to take the cues the family gives.

And so there are sometimes fatal results.”

My illness won today.”įarinholt said that even as we want to help friends and family who may be struggling with depression, it’s important to recognize “that these are not symptoms and disorders that people have complete control of - and neither do we or the family. The family published the note that Tommy left. They wrote that “despite the very fine doctors and a loving family and a friendship network of hundreds” that the pain became “overwhelming and unyielding and unbearable” and that Tommy took his own life. In sharing their loss, the Raskin family was frank about their son’s struggle with depression. And in many cases, that first diagnosis of a mental illness comes as the result of an emergency room visit or contact with the judicial system. However, only 43% of those with a diagnosable mental illness actually get treatment, according to Farinholt. “There is not one person who’s not affected somehow.” “We are all affected” said Farinholt of the impact of mental illness. And that affects all of us.”įarinholt said one in five adults in the United States will experience some form of mental illness in a year. “When someone dies by suicide, and if the family has been public about it,” said Farinholt, “the aftermath opens up an immediate opportunity to talk about suicide as a public health issue. Business & Finance Click to expand menu.

Thomas raskin cause of death drugs