Monday, February 18, 2013

R.I.P. Mindy McCready


I am not a fan of country music generally speaking so I am not very familiar with her music, but I have heard a great deal about her.  Her story is not all that much different with anyone else that is dealing with mental illness, except that she did in the public spotlight.  The stories of her drug abuse, mental health problems, and custody fight over her two young children have been headline news for years.  She lost the battle last night.  She was found dead on her front porch with a single self-inflicted gun shot to the head.
Mental illness has claimed another soul.  This is a woman who was forcibly hospitalized very recently, but as usual was let go way too soon.  One more to add to the list to show how broken our mental health system in this country.  Two children will grow up without memories of their mother as they are too young to have their own memories.

It is very easy to dismiss this and say she did this to herself.  True.  But unless you have dealt with a sort of major depression you can't possibly understand.  Mental illness is selfish.  That is part of the illness.   Drug addiction is a very sad side effect of mental illness.  It is a way to deal with the darkness.  Darkness is exactly what mental illness brings, one that you can't possibly understand unless you yourself have gone through it.

Our mental health system is broken in this country.  It must be fixed or these types of things will continue to happen.

Sadly, Mindy didn't feel the 10,000 angels looking down on her last night.


1 comment:

Liza Love said...

Having been treated for depression, I've hit that really dark place and all you want to do is make the pain go away. I considered wrapping my car around a tree, but, realized before it was too late, that suicide isn't the answer. It was a symptom of a greater problem. She may have been committed for treatment, but, you have to be willing to explore the dark place and want to come out the other side. Sometimes, it all becomes too much.

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