Ned Vizzini, a popular teenage novels writer, sure knew what he was writing about, for the main topics of his books are depression and teenage anxiety (though put out in a humorous manner). On December the 19-th he committed a suicide in Brooklyn by jumping off the roof. For one or other reason he did it on the building where his parents live. He was 32 and pretty successful for his age. So why would a popular author of 4 young-adult books take his own life?
Which Came First: Teenage Novel or Depression?
Everybody has his own ways of finding inspiration: some people seek for it in strong feelings, like love or hate, some find it, looking up to other people, some get it out of the nature. As for Ned Vizzini, he basically drew inspiration from his own suffering, for, struggling constantly with depression, he wished to somehow share his experience with youngsters and writing books on it was the best choice. Though now it looks a little bit doubtful whether he should have done it – as it can be seen now, his struggles were not too successful at the end.
Out of Nowhere
Taking a closer look at Mr. Vizzini’s life, the fact of him experiencing depression seems pretty odd. You could even think it was plushy life that made him act so fussy. His very first novel, “Be More Chill” was a success and brought him a contract for two more books – doesn’t look like a fair reason for despair. Nevertheless, that is how it happened – he got into the depths of depression, so that even medication was not enough to help him out. Finally, he went to the hospital and that was were he got better and wrote his second novel, “It’s a Kind of a Funny Story”, which became his most celebrated book and which was based on his own “hospital” experience. This year he published his last book, “House of Secrets”, which was supposed to be first in a trilogy of fantasy books for teenagers. Well, this trilogy is never going to be finished now.
Odds of Being a Writer or Odds of Being a Fool?
Artistic people tend to be taken as vulnerable ones. Sometimes it’s true, sometimes it is not – there are no less artists, musicians and writers with nerves of steel, than of those, who get easily hurt by careless words. But it is really weird even for a very vulnerable person to get depressed, when everything is actually good. Ned Vizzini was survived by his family and left successful teenage novels and contracts for other books behind. He did not even live a half of life he could, because he let depression knock him down, without thinking on his relatives, friends or readers, who might have looked up to him. There must have been some hidden reasons for his suicide or otherwise Ned Vizzini is a fool.
