Celebrities who lost their battle to mental health in 2022

The death of Stephen “tWitch” Boss, dancer, DJ, and co-host of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, has shaken show biz community and fans. At 40 years old, tWitch took his own life, the LA County Coroner confirmed. He is survived by his wife and three kids.

With the holidays in full force, we thought it’s time to talk about mental health, as this time of the year is when suicide rates increase the most. The main reasons being that family reunions can bring up unresolved issues, and alcohol consumption exacerbates negative thoughts, among other.

Days before commiting suicide, tWitch celebrated nine years of marriage with wife Allison Holker Boss, who’s also a dancer, sharing pictures of their wedding on Instagram. He captioned the post: “Happy anniversary my love.”

Depression can, many times, be unseen. 

“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to share that my husband Stephen has left us,” Holker Boss said in a statement. “Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends, and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him. He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans.”

Unfortunately, Boss was not the only celebrity who took his life in 2022. Moreover, there have been many deaths in which their loved ones didn’t reveal the cause and asked for privacy and respect in their time of mourning. These situations could enlarge the number even more. Other cases include celebrities’ relatives who have dealt with mental issues and committed suicide or died from an overdose, which could be included in this sad list too. 

In January, Cheslie Kryst, the 2019 Miss USA pageant winner and correspondent for the entertainment news show Extra, reportedly committed suicide. Her family confirmed her death in a statement. According to the police, Kryst jumped from a Manhattan apartment building and was pronounced dead at the scene.

In February, top talent manager Chris Huvane killed himself at age 47, after battling with depression for nine years. His list of clients included stars like Margot Robbie, Julianne Moore, and the late Chadwick Boseman. Many celebrities paid their respects and described him as a person who was loved by anyone who ever met him. 

Jason David Frank, who portrayed one of the Power Rangers, also committed suicide a few weeks ago. He was 49 and had four kids. His wife, Tammie Frank, stated that he had struggled with his mental health and depression before, but she had no idea that he was thinking of ending his life. Their daughter died a year ago and it affected them both and their marriage. 

Charles Criss, the older brother of Glee’s star Darren Criss, died by suicide in February at the age of 36. The musician had three children. “We will never know just how long he was fighting this war within himself, but last week, it consumed him fully, and he succumbed by taking his own life,” wrote his brother in an Instagram post in March.

In May, “Toddlers and Tiaras”’ star Kailia Posey also died by suicide. When she was a kid, she was part of the TLC reality series, which ran from 2009 to 2013 and featured families who prepared their children to compete in beauty pageants. Just a few days before her death, she had attended her prom. She was 16. 

The country music singer and mother of the actress Ashley Judd, Naomi Judd, died in April at the age of 76. In 2016, Naomi revealed that she battled severe depression and anxiety since she and Wynonna, her oldest daughter, stopped touring as The Judds, in 2011. “[Fans] see me in rhinestones, you know, with glitter in my hair, that really is who I am,” she had said. “But then I would come home and not leave the house for three weeks, and not get out of my pajamas, and not practice normal hygiene. It was really bad,” she said as an anticipation of the decision she would make many years later. 

Even though many celebrities have died this year, coroners have ruled out some of them as accidental deaths due to overdose, or just plain overdose, as was the case of Aaron Carter. However, they were also battling with mental health.

The struggles that people who suffer from depression have to face every day, could be matched by the ones of those who love them. Especially when they know what’s going on, but don’t know how to help them.

Darren Criss’ Instagram post about his late brother explained it perfectly: “Despite our very vocal concerns about his well-being, and his protestations that everything was fine, it’s crushing to say now that Chuck clearly had had a severe depression welling up in him for some time, a depression that was only worsened by a lifelong struggle he had with expressing his feelings – a dangerous combination truly outmatched by his all-too-incredible ability to conceal it, not just from the world at large, but most tragically, from the people who were closest to him.”

The Mayo Clinic offers information and advice in case you are having suicidal thoughts (Suicide and suicidal thoughts – Symptoms and causes – Mayo Clinic) and of how you can support a family member or friend with depression (Depression: Supporting a family member or friend – Mayo Clinic).