![]() Describing their son’s wealth of resources, they wrote: We fight our battles heroically in doctor’s offices, out in the world and in the private moments when depression robs us of human connection and community.Īt the end of their tribute, Mr Raskin’s parents made a very important point and I’m so glad they did. I know there’s a great big army of depressed people who go through life passing for ‘normal’. I’ve ‘come out of the closet’ and encouraged others to publicly share their pain as well. Which is why I’ve been working so hard to fight stigmatisation for the last several years. In mourning the loss of Mr Raskin, I’ve been thinking about how all this perseverance and concealment must take a tremendous toll on top of the damage already inflicted by the illness. I don’t drink at all anymore, but from adolescence all the way to 35 I consumed a lot without passing out or experiencing loss of memory. And again, I could conceal an over-reliance on booze in social settings very competently. But so was almost everyone else at those gatherings. At work, in college, and at cocktail parties (though if you looked closely, you might notice I was drinking a bit too much). Like many of us, somewhere along the line, I became highly skilled at hiding my pain. Right now I’m in graduate school at Hopkins and have always done pretty well in school, with the exception of becoming a high school dropout for a modelling career that took me abroad.Īnyone who has lived with me, been a close friend or therapist of mine, knows intimately how much I struggle with feelings of failure, self-loathing, and overall sadness.Įveryone else seems extremely surprised when I mention my history of depression. I’ve never lost functionality or needed hospitalisation. I have, however, plugged along through a life clouded by depression that emerged around eighth grade. I’d have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting into Harvard Law School and was never a child who taught friends the names of the Supreme Court Justices like Mr Raskin, who did both. Speaking from experience, depression isn’t a disease that universally drives its victims into bed for extended periods or forces inpatient hospitalisations. I’d like to take this moment to point out that many people who suffer from chronic depression manage to live outwardly successful lives, despite assumptions to the contrary. From his parent’s fiercely loving tribute, published on Medium, it sounds like Tommy Bloom Raskin was an unusually accomplished and big-hearted young man.
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