Singer/musician Chris Daughtry gave a gift to this world, by revealing publicly, that the cause of her daughter’s death from last November was suicide.
Why a gift? The death happened in November! The fam didn’t need to reveal this. I can, off the top of my head, name over 10 celeb or celeb fam deaths over the past 2 yrs, where the cause is still shrouded in secrecy. Yes that’s the fam’s choice.
Here’s the but: the suicide epidemic we are in (& that’s what this is when we are losing 1 million globally on an annual basis), never gets better, if we don’t talk abt this topic openly. If we don’t share the common struggles. If we don’t explain how suicide ISN’T a CHOICE of “weighing pros & cons.” In fact, how it’s often not a “choice” at all.
Suicide often results from error messages that are the result of compounded trauma. If you look at the trauma Daughtry’s daughter faced before her death, you wouldn’t wish it on anyone – abuse at the hands of a boyfriend, loss of her biological father to suicide, being shot in the face, amongst others.
Those self-harm “error messages” are not things that the sufferer wants to engage in. But it feels like a magnetic pull. Those who’ve experienced ideations can relate. So…unless we talk abt this openly – like the Daughtry family has, we never normalize the discussion & most importantly we never take away the shame – which causes future sufferers not to speak up.
Daughtry’s wife had to recently share: “I loved my daughter so much & I am experiencing the deepest emotional pain! Please stop making it worse for those of us who love her by spreading rumors & saying disgusting things about our family.”
We, as a society, owe it to this fam (& others who share) to thank them for their openness, & not spread rumors about the loss. They are heroes for sharing in the hopes of preventing more of these outcomes in the future.
If we want to make impact, our comforting & appreciative reactions to these revelations is one way we can make that impact.
