Country Singer's Tragic Death Sparks Mental Health Concern In The Tri-State

A tragic end for country music singer, Mindy McCready, who is dead after an apparent suicide. Police found the thirty-seven year old's body on the front porch of her Arkansas home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Her two young sons, a six year old and ten month old, are now in foster care. You may remember McCready's soaring career, back in the nineties, but in recent years her personal troubles overshadowing her accomplishments. McCready, who struggled with addiction, mental illness, and attempted suicide before.
McCready's story is like too many others, a life full of mental illness that could have been saved. It's starting to become somewhat of a "red flag" in the nation as the link between proper mental health care, and tragedy, becomes closely related. The Sandy Hook Elementary shooter had many asking questions about whether mental health care is being taken serious enough. This death of Mindy McCready has people asking those questions again. Requests rolled in today after news that country music singer Mindy McCready was found dead last night. She is the victim of an apparent suicide. McCready topped the charts in the nineties, but hit rock bottom later with the many demons she battled through her life. One of them? A possible mental health disorder. "Even though in the back of our minds we we're afraid something like this would happen to her, you just don't want it to happen," says country music personality Leslie Morgan. News of McCready's death has many beginning to wonder if mental health care should be taken more seriously, especially if it could be the difference between life or death. "I've seen a lot of history, and a lot of progress," says Mulberry Center Staff Therapist Ralph Nichols. He says progress is being made, but the negative views regarding mental health still has a way to go. "With regard to stigma, the stigma is not as great now as it has been historically." But, Nichols says people like McCready who live their life in the public eye, have even more challenges to face. "Being in a spotlight like some of the performers are, they really are not prepared for the pressure that comes from the paparazzi and just the crowds that can almost make you feel like you are suffocating," says Nichols. In the tragedy of Sandy Hook Elementary, and Mindy McCready's death, one thing is for sure, a care for mental health concern is on the rise.