Ernest Hemingway's granddaughter killed herself in 1996

[Deja Q]

http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9608/20/hemingway.suicide/

:(

[WinkyDink]

1. Like Gramps, like Grand-daughter.

[Lorien]

3. Ernest Hemingway's brother, sister and father also commited suicide

Depression is an illness, sometimes genetic. It's a shame that so many still see it as a personal failing and not a serious health issue.

[ikojo]

4. The more people talk openly about those they have

known who have suicided the less of a stigma there will be on depression. I am not ashamed to tell others about my brother's suicide in 2001. I tell people that depression is an illness, and like any illness such as heart disease or diabetes, if left untreated it can kill.

My brother accepted the cultural ideal that his depression was a failing on his part. He would occasionally seek treatment but would not continue with the treatment ordered by the doctor. He found counseling to be the most difficult part of the treatment. Of course the counseling was difficult because it meant he had to go inside himself and few like to do that.

[Lorien]

5. I'm so sorry for your loss, ikojo

an I'm grateful that you aren't ashamed to share the truth with others. Somehow society needs to get past it's strongly held beliefs that happiness and mental health are only a matter of "choice' and "character." I even overheard Oprah saying on a program recently that the best way to deal with a depresses person is "not to focus on their depression, because that only reinforces their self image of being a depressed person". Would she say something similar to a person with cancer? Depression is a serious illness and one that's very difficult to treat. I've been dealing with it since my earliest memories, and I've been hospitalized for attempted suicide. I know that nobody out there is going to help me because so many people that I know buy into popular beliefs about the illness, so I research treatments on my own and do the best I can with diets, exercise, supplements, and an Alpha-Stim device. There are plenty of times when I feel like the illness is winning, but there's not much else I can do. Hell, even cancer patients have a hell of a time getting decent treatment in BushCo's America; the rest of us are pretty much screwed.

[driver8]

2. Hard to believe it has been that long. n/t