When Mindy McCready ended her life with a single bullet, family, friends, and even fans were not surprised. The country singer had tried to kill herself at least four times before.
When Mindy McCready ended her life with a single bullet Feb. 17, 2013, family members, friends, and even fans were not surprised. The 37-year-old had tried to kill herself at least four times before.
The country singer, who found early fame with songs such as “Ten Thousand Angels” and “Guys Do It All the Time,” had long struggled with substance-abuse problems. She had publicly tried — and ultimately failed — to get sober on “Celebrity Rehab.” Her once-promising career had stalled, and she only made headlines when she encountered legal problems, including custody issues concerning her sons, fraudulently attempting to get prescriptions medications, and driving under the influence.
Her boyfriend, the father of the younger of her two sons, had apparently killed himself at the same spot five weeks earlier.
“As sad as it is, it didn’t come as a major shock because she’s been battling demons for so long,” Billy McKnight, father of her older son, said on the Today show. “I was around her when she attempted suicide twice, so I knew it was in her.”
“Our Mindy was so tired,” McCready’s mother told USA Today. “She felt helpless.”
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 38,000 people took their own lives in 2010, meaning someone died by suicide in the U.S. every 13.7 minutes. The number of suicides could be even higher, as some deaths are misclassified.
McCready struggled with what some mental health professionals call a “dual diagnosis,” struggling with mental illness and addiction problems, Dr. Dale Archer wrote on PsychologyToday.com. “Even with treatment, these conditions can be lethal and anyone as determined … to end (their) own life will find a way, whether it’s through an overdose, a weapon or some other means,” he wrote. “That is the cold hard truth — when people decide they are really going to end their life, they will find a way to do it and there is nothing that you, or I as a psychiatrist can do about it.”
McCready’s family tried their best. Her father went to court to get her committed to a mental health/addiction treatment center after her boyfriend’s death. The court did send her, but only for two days before allowing her to look into outpatient treatment. At one point, McCready lived with her brother, who had saved her in a previous suicide attempt.
Suicide, Tamara Pommells wrote on HolisticBehavioralSolutions.com, “looks like fame, fortune, family. It looks like someone broke, alone, confused. It looks like men and women of all ages and races. It looks like the person next to you or the person in the mirror. It looks like Kurt Cobain, Prince Alfred, Owen Wilson, Marilyn Monroe, Cleopatra, Junior Seau and Mindy McCready.”
In the weeks before her death, McCready made a video for a new song, “I’ll See You Yesterday.” It featured photos of her and her deceased boyfriend, as well as a link to learn more about suicide, at http://www.suicideispreventable.org.
The video’s producer told People magazine he’d asked McCready when he could release the finished product. “Mindy’s answer was, ‘You’ll know when it’s right,’ ” he said. “In hindsight, she was having me produce her suicide video.”
If you, or anyone you know, is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please seek help immediately — you can speak with a skilled, trained counselor at a national Suicide Prevention Lifeline crisis center in your area 24/7 by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Natalie Pompilio is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. Her lifelong love of obituaries raised eyebrows when she was younger, but she’s now able to explain that this interest goes beyond morbid curiosity. Says Pompilio, “Obituaries are mini life stories, allowing a glimpse into someone’s world that we’re often denied. I just wish we could share them with each other when we’re alive.”
