Hey, thanks for reading my piece.

My question to you is: do you think suicidal people are the only ones who feel “unbearable pain, shame, helplessness, and confusion?” My intention wasn’t to smear DFW. It was to show that people close to him, who knew David much more deeply than you and I, did not accept the “he was simply depressed” explanation for his suicide. Also, in our society, there are plenty of ways in which most people aren’t free, so their internal plight is understandable.

We all have burdens we have to carry and injustices we have to deal with. Sure, some people are so mentally ill that they can’t be helped, but I want readers to realize that there are people who’ve had it way worse than them who have discovered ways to still enjoy life.

One more thing, if I’d written further about my life, my “I’ve been there myself” comment about mental illness wouldn’t have rung hollow. I didn’t want to derail the piece by writing too much about myself.