![]() He felt the pain of other people and of animals in a way that certainly I had never seen before, and people describe as unique. On his son Tommy's heightened sensitivity and empathyįrom a very young age, he was an enormously sensitive person. And suddenly I was just thrust into a world of complete tragedy and pain, and the madness of the insurrection and the attack on our system of government. I have a colleague, Abigail Spanberger from Virginia, who was once asked on C-SPAN, "Who's the funniest member of Congress?" And it was my greatest achievement that she said, "Oh, no question: Jamie Raskin." And that's who I was. 6, I was the happiest, funniest member of Congress you could ever care to meet. This whole thing has been such an episode of cognitive dissonance for me, because people will tell you that before we lost Tommy, before Jan. It's all about the future of our country." We're going to get to the answers and I'm going to report them this year to the American people, because the people deserve it. "We don't spend all of our time in partisan polemics and food fights. "I've never been on a more effective and serious bipartisan committee than select committee," he says. 6 insurrection, the events leading up to it and the people behind it. Now Raskin is serving on the House select committee charged with investigating the Jan. Trump's second impeachment trial ended in acquittal in February 2021. "And so my feeling to the people who want to take down our democracy is that they're not going to scare me out of doing my job." "I personally felt no fear, because the very worst thing that ever could have happened to me had already happened to me," he says. Raskin knew that leading the impeachment trial would likely result in death threats, but he pushed on. "I was forced to galvanize all of my love for Tommy and my daughters, Hannah and Tabitha, and my wife, Sarah, and our family and our country, and to throw myself into the trial to make the case that Donald Trump had incited this violent insurrection in an effort to overthrow the 2020 presidential election," Raskin says. Looking back now, Raskin sees Pelosi's request as a lifeline. ![]() Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., asked him to serve as the lead manager in the second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. There was a time, he says, when "I wasn't sure whether I was ever going to be able to do anything again." In his new memoir, Unthinkable, Raskin reflects on his continuing efforts to understand those two traumatic events. Capitol with his daughter and son-in-law when a violent mob stormed the building in an attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election. 6, 2021, just a day after Tommy's funeral, Raskin was at work in the U.S. On New Year's Eve 2020, his son Tommy, 25, died by suicide after years of fighting mental illness. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., experienced two unimaginable traumas in the span of a single week. You can also text the Crisis Text Line at 741741.A year ago, Rep. ![]() The number for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 800-273-TALK (8255) There are a number of services available for help. If they don’t share the cause of death, Farinholt said, “it’s important that you respect that and you just provide your condolences.” “Lots of people are just not willing to talk about suicide,” she said. In talking to friends or family members who have had a suicide loss, Farinholt said it’s important to take the cues the family gives. And so there are sometimes fatal results.” My illness won today.”įarinholt said that even as we want to help friends and family who may be struggling with depression, it’s important to recognize “that these are not symptoms and disorders that people have complete control of - and neither do we or the family. The family published the note that Tommy left. They wrote that “despite the very fine doctors and a loving family and a friendship network of hundreds” that the pain became “overwhelming and unyielding and unbearable” and that Tommy took his own life. In sharing their loss, the Raskin family was frank about their son’s struggle with depression. And in many cases, that first diagnosis of a mental illness comes as the result of an emergency room visit or contact with the judicial system. However, only 43% of those with a diagnosable mental illness actually get treatment, according to Farinholt. “There is not one person who’s not affected somehow.” “We are all affected” said Farinholt of the impact of mental illness. And that affects all of us.”įarinholt said one in five adults in the United States will experience some form of mental illness in a year. “When someone dies by suicide, and if the family has been public about it,” said Farinholt, “the aftermath opens up an immediate opportunity to talk about suicide as a public health issue. Business & Finance Click to expand menu.
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