Keeping it Together: A daughter's shocking suicide

Editor’s note: This newsletter discusses suicide and suicidal ideation. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

Katherine Nugent thought her daughter was getting better.

Beloved at school, her 15-year-old daughter Isabel was a lauded artist, a star soccer player and a gifted poet. She'd struggled with depression before and lived with chronic physical pain as a result of fibromyalgia, but she seemed in good spirits, Nugent says. She had upcoming plans to have a sleepover with friends and participate at an arts fundraiser for her high school.

So when the Washington, D.C. math teacher heard her daughter's alarm clock continue to ring one morning, she didn't think anything of it.

"I don't know why it didn't strike me as weird that it was just ringing and ringing and ringing," Nugent says. "The light was on in the bathroom, and I thought she was getting ready for school. And then I said, ‘Isabel,’ and she didn't answer. And so I thought, 'She must have her headphones on.' And so I pushed the door, and it wouldn't push open. And then it pushed open, and she was dead on the floor.”

I'm Charlie, a wellness reporter here at Paste BN, and this week I wrote about suicide and why it can sometimes seem mysterious. Suicide doesn't have a set timeline. It isn't linear. No matter what, it leaves loved ones struggling to piece together where things went wrong. When it happens with little to no warning or indication, it can feel especially devastating.

This unpredictable aspect of suicide is fraught, complicated and, often, misunderstood − and it's something Nugent feels called to raise awareness about.

You can read more from this story here and find other important articles from our team below. We'll be taking the next week off from this newsletter, but we look forward to seeing you all in the new year.

Suicide Lifeline: If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 any time, day or night, or chat online.