It is sad to hear about the death of former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst, who worked as an entertainment correspondent for the television show “Extra.” She died after apparently jumping from a Manhattan apartment building. She was just 30 (“Ex-Miss USA dies after jumping from building,” Feb.1, Gulf Today.) It was a very shocking piece of news for me. It has completed shattered me. People work throughout their life to be a successful person in their life, but Cheslie was very successful already and popular at only 30. She was a highly educated girl too, who had earned an MBA and a Law degree.  

Then what else she needed in her life? What went wrong with her? It must be shocking for family members as well. Having such an extraordinary child and gone too early. I think mental health experts should come forward to help and identify those who are in distress. Every society should encourage people in distress to talk about their issues freely. I don’t know what causes people to end their life, but I can feel that with growing competition and lack of social support, the level of stress has gone very high these days especially in the Western world and that might be troubling a lot of people. Though these days mental health professionals globally are very active even at the school level and they are trying their best to intervene wherever there is a need.

Julie Sengupta,
By email