It's easy to underestimate how these times we're living in effects our mental health.

The successful and beautiful Mayor of Coppell, Texas killed her 19- year-old daughter and then herself after struggling for several years after the death of her husband from cancer. She was behind on her bills. She was raising a teenage daughter alone. The bank was threatening to foreclose on her house.

Some speculate that Jayne Peters took her daughter with her to death, believing that the world was becoming "too threatening, too hard."

If you think about all of the components needed----both pyschological and physical---to be a healthy, functioning human being, it's no wonder some people just can't cut it. One day my daughter asked me why a person we know of was so often out of a job and homeless, and I told her that not everyone has the giant tool box they need to get through life. It's a miracle so many do as well as they do.

And sometimes we're surprised, too, like when an educated and respected member of a community like Jayne Peters, just throws in the towel. But I see how it can happen. Things pile up----and then the last thing happens---like the bank sends you a letter, and it's just one too many things. You feel as if you just can't deal with it anymore.

We are living in the hardest times imaginable. Weather related extremes, foreclosures, cancer, a lying, cheating government, apathy, isolation, materialism..... it takes SO much to keep it together. In fact, every morning when you wake up, you should give yourself a pat on the back-----you have what it takes to make it through one more day. Don't underestimate the strength it takes to keep a job, raise a family, pay your bills, and live in this God for saken illusion.

For some people...it's just too hard......

How do you all get through the day? What do you think it takes to be even an average citizen these days?

Wow, what a sad story, and I am sure this is not an isolated event. It is bad enough for people to deal with dying loved ones, and the money issue is the ultimate insult to injury. I am curious to the state of mind this individual had. Was she on medication, or have any history of mental illness? Or was she of sound mind and just couldn't see it thru?
We are so burdened with trying to make ends meet, and providing a future for ourselves and families is getting tougher and tougher. Then throw in just one medical situation that sucks one's life savings up, and bam, desperation and disenchantment settles in.
I'm afraid we may be hearing more stories like this in the future.....sad.

spec

Thanks for adding some details to the story....

Still and all, I think this story shows that for some people, random and troubling events are too much to handle. The reason the Mayor may have been using her city-issued credit card is because she was behind on her mortgage and her association fees. There are millions of people who can relate to this scenario, and certainly, if you throw in a dead husband and a daughter who is leaving for college-- for some people, that's enough to push them over the edge.

My point is this: We are living in difficult times. Not everyone has the mental wherewithall to handle them. The amount of money needed to get through a month, the high cost of education, the proliferation of cancer that steals our loved ones way too soon, the pace of life and technology....need I go on?

I'll say it again: Anyone who has the strength to keep it together...deserves a pat on the back.