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Sylvia Plath’s Son Commits Suicide

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Frieda and Nicholas Highes In the eyes of many aspiring artists, Nicholas Hughes had a pedigree unmatched. The son of British Poet Laureate Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, he was one year old when his infamous tortured poet mother commited suicide by sticking her head in a gas oven.

46 years later, Nicholas Highes’ body was discovered in his Alaskan home. He’d hung himself. His surviving sister, Freida, who also suffers from depression, claims that Nicholas was battling depression at the time and apparently was the one to discover the body when she arrived for a visit to her brother. He never married and did not have children. He was a professor of “fisheries and ocean sciences”, with a real love for the outdoors and took up pottery as a hobby.

This Is What Depression Does To You

Although he kept very quiet and tried to stay away from the public eye and his parents’ fans, by all accounts Nicholas Hughes became a successful and highly respected fellow. But no matter how brilliant or logical you are, depression does have a way of making you unable to see your situation clearly.

So, if you know someone who has had depression in the past and yet seems all right, still check up on them from time to time. In depression, setbacks are inevitable. There isn’t just one overnight cure and then you’re free from it for the rest of your life.

Suicide Warning Signs

Indications that someone is thinking about sucide include:

  • Giving away prized possessions
  • Becoming more and more isolated
  • Talking about death or dying
  • Sudden weight loss or weight gain
  • Not finding any joy in any activity, even those things the person usually loves

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I have depression, and some days depression has me. Know that you are not alone in suffering from depression. This site helps you deal with and come to terms with your depression. This site should not be used as a substitution for your doctor's or therapist's advice.

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