Story on ex-cross country star who killed herself

No, it doesn't "reveal" anything new. But there's still a huge stigma on depression. And the more stories like Pam's are told, the more people will see that this is more common than anyone likes to admit. It's a daily battle. You fight it every damn day.

Definitely not pointless. Some stories need to be told.

 

By E.A. Robinson
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.


And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.


And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.


So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

 

What an excellent story. I'm actually tearing up.
Props to Vicki.

 

I saw her twice -- I'm trying to remember if I ever spoke to her, I know she declined an interview request once -- but the signs were there. She way way too thin (I don't think I ever saw her at 80 pounds, but it was obvious she was well under her ideal weight), and she kept a distance from the other runners and even her teammates to a degree. She won both races I saw, but she wasn't very happy about it. A few years later, I ran into a cross country coach from a competing school at a function at my church, and he mentioned she had picked up some weight, so I figured she had gotten past that part.

But it wasn't until reading the story that I understood the great extent of her problems.

As for whether it's a sports story or not: I don't think a great many more people would care about this story because of her cross country past. Even taking that out of the equation, she was an attractive girl with strong academic credentials; a person that had "winner" stamped on her. And rarely do parents of children who kill themselves come out to the degree her parents did. It just happened that she was a former state XC champion, and that gave her an additional level of recognition, plus some of the writers, including Vicki, had covered her, so there you go.

 

"depression" is an all-purpose umbrella label for numerous different problems. the big Pharmaceuticals make a fortune off of convincing unhappy souls that they need to buy "anti-depressants" for the rest of their lives. the newest treatment focuses on a person's values. This girl, for instance, seemed to be obsessed with "success" - but a very conventional narrowly-defiined success. like millions of other depressed americans. she was valuing the wrong things and unfortunately nobody got ahold of her and straightened her out. that was the story - the writer missed it.

 

Are we ever going to fill our quota of board assholes? Because every time I turn around, there's a new one.

 

There really should be a test before you're allowed to post.

 

Thank you, Tom Cruise. :

You have no idea what you're talking about. STFU.

 

And you are an ass.

 

I'd disagree with the naysayers. I think the story does point out the mistakes the family made in believing and ennabling their successful, deceitful, cryptic daughter. I'm not sure they could have done anything else from a secular point of view.

And I think I appreciate the quote at the end, because it seems as though the father is saying he doesn't understand what was so painful about his daughter's life.

 

I'm not sure they could have done anything, either. That's part of the problem with depression: the demons are inside, and can't always be "fixed" by outside forces.

They gave everything they could to their daughter -- it's not their "fault" and it's not her "fault". Doesn't matter how much support you have, or how much success, or how perfect your life seems on the outside, if the pain is on the inside.

It's a battle every day -- she couldn't bring herself to keep fighting that battle. Maybe it's a selfish way out, but unless you know what that feels like, you don't really know what she's dealing with ...

 

henry,

You are right about the pharmaceuticals part. Waaaaay too many people in North America are on anti-depressants. I'm personally very happy that governments in the United States and Canada are changing the methods pharmaceutical representatives can use to sell drugs to doctors. Free golf games/weekend getaways/hookers are a powerful enticement.

But I do think you miss one very important thing: You have to separate yourself from the readers. We read a lot more than they do, so we come across more of these kinds of stories than they do. And, sometimes, they need to be reminded. It's not like this newspaper is doing Les Nesman's Death Watch.

Some teenagers/young adults/university students undoubtedly read this story and said, "This person is just like me." Some parents undoubtedly read this story and said, "Wow, that sounds like my son/daughter."

If you truly believe education about the issues are more important than drugs, I don't understand why you wouldn't like this story.