RIP Naomi Judd.

[ZeeOSix]

Apparently it's doctors who don't really understand the illness, nor the cure. If they did we would not have the tens of thousands of annual suicides (most arguably due to depression), and the 60 thousand drug addict deaths annually from overdoses (large % of drug addicts started or stay on due to depression)...

So it sorta is personal attack on me, when you continually say that I don't understand, when nobody apparently really does understand the cause or cure. Saying the cause could be effectively anything, is really not particularly helpful.

There "drug" solution is part of the big-pharma problem. For the truly hopeless, poor, destitute, victims, homeless, suicide is easier to understand. How is a rich/powerful/famous person hopeless and fatigued? They have the power to alter their environment drastically.

If doctors and experts in the field don't fully understand it, then certainly nobody on BITOG can fully understand it. Saying you or anyone else doesn't fully understand it because of obvious things they say isn't making it "personal" ... it's simply point out a fact that they don't fully grasp it. That's no different than someone not fully grasping lubrication and tribology, or fully grasping the way oil filter and an oiling system operate, and someone pointing out that they don't fully understand it because of some comments they made about the subject matter that showed they didn't grasp the subject matter. If you want to take it as being "personal", then go for it.

It's a very narrow viewpoint to believe that people who have everything in the world (money, success, fame, good physical health, etc) should never feel depressed, or never get so depressed that they take their own life, simply doesn't have much knowledge on the illness. People who view depression that way can not judge or make conclusions about how someone behaves from it just based on how they might react/behave if they were that same person. That is the recurring viewpoint you seem to give - you just can't understand how someone with so many good things in their life could do such a thing ... but it happens all the time. In extreme cases that lead to suicide, nothing matters includeing money, success, fame, etc, etc. When depression gets to that level it is totally over-riding everything else in life.

Yes, the cause of depression can be caused by many things ... it can simply be a chemical imbalance in the brain (synapses not working properly), and not necessarily caused or triggered by some kind of life event. This is why many people who seem to have everything can still suffer from extreme depression. That's the part it seems that you don't understand, and why it's so puzzling to you why anyone would take thier own life because of extreme depression when in your mind they "have it all" and there should be no reason. You nor anyone else can be the judge on how depression should effect anyone, or how they should react to it ... nobody can, expect the person it's happening to. That's what makes it so difficult to diagnose and treat. Many people don't seek any help because of the negative stigma of depression, and that's the worst thing they can do.

 

[wemay]

In this case, at venerable age, with incredible success, fortune, wealth, having raised successful children, why would anyone self delete. I just don't get it. Go on a lavish trip, see someplace amazing, dedicate all your fortunes to helping others in some great humanitarian cause, and on and on. But to sit on bags of money wallowing in depression is so hard to comprehend since one isn't powerless to alter ones surroundings, unlike a poor powerless person facing insurmountable problems.

@CharlesInCharge
Like the vast majority of the population, you just cannot understand it with a statement like this. This is not an indictment of your sensibilities. It is a very difficult subject to explain and for society to even wrap their heads around.

 

[DuckRyder]

Perhaps that you are trying to apply logic to something that isn't logical is a better description.

Some depressed people will tell you they have no reason to be depressed and that they don't want to be that way, imagine how confusing that would be - your brain is betraying you. Think about someone like Naomi Judd, who I am sure could find the best doctors in the world, get to them and not worry about what her insurance will pay couldn't find the solution. It is even harder for the average person.

You're right about one thing, doctors don't understand an awful lot of stuff, even a lot of the drugs they don't understand WHY or HOW they actually work, just that they do in some cases. IME with the medical community - for every one caring, compassionate and competent doctor there are 10 that fall significantly short of that.

Money isn't the solution to everything either, there was a documentary where they gave a homeless guy 50 grand and access to finical advisors, he never contacted the advisors and was broke in a short time.

RIP Naomi.

 

[spasm3]

It's possible she was having dementia symptoms, was aware of what was hapening to her, and did not want to go down that road. So many possibilities.

 

[simple_gifts]

Go spend your fortune on helping commoners.

Got it.

Naomi Judd: She Changed How America Looked at Hepatitis and Liver Disease - American Liver Foundation

In 1990 Naomi Judd was diagnosed with hepatitis C that she contracted as a result of a needle stick injury when she worked as a nurse. The prognosis was not good and she went through painful treatment that made it impossible for her to continue the touring rigors of her country music stardom.

liverfoundation.org

And while Naomi’s singing voice was loved by millions of her fans, her advocacy and public awareness voice benefited over 30 million Americans with hepatitis/liver diseases. And even though she was fatigued by hepatitis, the following is a partial list of the many ways she selflessly contributed to fight hepatitis/liver disease:

• Produced public service announcements to bolster public awareness about hepatitis/liver diseases
• Keynote speaker at hepatitis/liver disease fundraising public awareness events around the U.S.
• Lobbying Congress for research support, including spending a full day on Capitol Hill
• Featured in direct mail education campaigns to millions of Americans
• Being available for countless print and TV interviews
• Sending surprise checks for research to ALF after conducting auctions at Judd House

Naomi will be missed, but more than anyone else I know, she was pivotal in changing the way hepatitis and liver disease was perceived and funded in the United States. With much sadness she is gone, but what she set in motion lives on to benefit millions. Thank you Naomi.

I agree with the sentiments of others. Respectfully your position mirrors the "just snap out of it" advice of the decades past and also fails to address why suicide runs in families; The Hemingways the most prominant example and my friend's father, uncle and grandfather all took their own lives; all being on the same side of the family.

On the genes vs environment spectrum, this may heavily suggest genes play a prominent role. JMO

 

[CharlesInCharge]

Excellent, and I was aware she did a lot of altruistic work for the Hep. Wasn't aware of the liver side but all of that is great. Was it recent? I was under the impression she did this stuff long ago. I'm not trying to minimize nor attack her at all. However, the articles I read on her death suggested she was a shut-in for the last many years ...

 

[PimTac]

It's possible she was having dementia symptoms, was aware of what was hapening to her, and did not want to go down that road. So many possibilities.

This along with many other possibilities leads me to believe there is more to the story here. The family wants privacy and that is understandable so we may never know and it’s really none of our business anyway.

All these stories are wake-up reminders that we should be aware if anyone close is having issues or doesn’t seem right. Family and friend support is essential along with medical treatment if necessary.

 

[bbhero]

I really feel for her family members and friends.

I can understand why she did what she did too. When you like you are a burden to everyone around you, when you feel so very isolated and alone, that nothing you do matters, that certain people within your own family are against you, or that you let them down to the point to where you see no way to be redeemed or have any ability to make it right with them, you see and have a lot of first-hand experience with the nastiness of people and you lose your belief in much goodness of people.
I understand that well. Very, very well.