Dana Plato's Son Commits Suicide
For those of you old enough to remember, Dana Plato was the epitome of a child star that had serious problems ever adjusting to being an adult. The former star of Different Strokes ended up hooked on drugs, did really bad porn, served time in jail, and eventually committed suicide when she was in her mid 30's. When she died she left behind a son. Her son killed himself last week, two days prior to the anniversary of his mom's death. He was 25.
Apparently every year at this time, Tyler Lambert would battle severe depression and this year was no different. This time though he went on an alcohol and drug binge and ended up killing himself.
I hope he and his mom have been reunited. Very, very sad.
35 comments:
This is awful. My heart broke reading this.
Oh god, that's too much tragedy for one family. I am so sorry to hear this.
how incredibly sad : (
Now think of all of the kids on Disney, and the kind of egocencentric misery they have been setup for all before they knew any better and could defend or choose for themselves.
How many can you think of that turned out totally normal? Not that many...
SMDH just too damn tragic.
How sad. I wonder if that young man ever stood a chance of finding happiness in this life?
very, very, sad to hear this.
It's hard. Very hard. As a child who lost her own substance-abusing father to suicide, I know that not only is the anniversary of a suicide uber painful, it's more likely for family members to commit suicide in a family where one (or more) has already occurred.
We can find happiness, but we also have to realize that genetic predisposition to mental illness is part of the problem, and we can take steps to improve it. I came very close to ending my own life in the years after my father died, but meds and education can do wonders.
RIP Dana and son.
When I read about a suicide it always hits something inside of me. I wonder what could possibly drive a person to take their own life; what was their last thought; did they regret their decision at the last minute or did they go peacefully and embrace death? Poor kid, this is beyond sad. Dana was so screwed up.
this is so awful RIP.
enty, i thought Dana accidently overdosed from her boyfriend's drugs?
was it ruled a suicide?
Not that it really makes a difference, but did he intentionally commit suicide or binge & end up killing himself?
@everyone, I too almost teared up at this story. I had such fond memories of Dana Plato that her death a few years ago was like a kick to the face. And this just reminds me of it. Sad stuff!
Rickatoo, the Enquirer story says he used a gun so I'm pretty sure that was intentional.
This is incredibly sad. Today is the 6 mo anniversary of my brother's suicide. I'll be spending the evening at a Survivors of Suicide meeting. I really wish that Dana's son has gotten some help.
Unfortunately, suicide leaves a legacy.
@califblondy...you don't really think about what you are doing, it's almost like watching someone else take the pills...like an image in the mirror. You don't think about how it will affect your loved ones, you don't think of alternative solutions, you really don't think at all. Your mind is like a dark, thick muddy dreg with nothing really coherent. You don't think or feel about anything except maybe a deep sadness that winds black tentacles around you, smothering you with physical blackness, dragging you down and won't let you go.
If you don't have depression, it's very difficult to put yourself in a suicide's 'shoes.' They don't "snap out of it," they don't "just go through a phase," and they don't believe they have other choices. I also believe they don't realize how final their actions really.
I'm not excusing anything or anyone...just trying to verbalize what I feel some individual(s) experience when they attempt to commit suicide. No absolutions here.
Heartbreaking
@RocketQueen, so sorry to hear of your loss and your battle with depression. There is so much sadness out there and it's times like this I hug my family and friends very close and be thankful for them. Big cyber hug to you too RocketQueen.
Incredibly sad. I remember when she died I was was wishing the best for her son. Didn't work out the way I had hoped. RIP
@JJ - sorry to hear that but glad you have support.
(Arms reaching wider in that cyber hug)
@caydian, well said
Depression is a frequently fatal illness. The number of people who die from it every year is staggering.
Wow. So very sad. RIP.
Thanks John. I was 21 when it happened and my little brother was only 16. It's hard to get over. Understanding what pain a person was in to have resorted to suicide helps, but also makes it harder.
Caydian, thank you for taking the time to write that even tho it made me teary. I don't know why but I've always been fascinated (maybe the wrong word) by suicide.
RocketQueen and JJ, I'm very sorry.
This took my breath away when I saw the headline. Poor kid.
How sad. The husband of a friend committed suicide a few years ago. He was smart and attractive but considered himself a failure. He had also been sexually abused as a child. He took an intentional overdose and the suicide note said that he felt like a burden to his family. I just know that he was in a lot of pain.
RocketQueen, I can't imagine how hard that must have been on you and your family. I recently watched a documentary on HBO about a teenager with bipolar disorder who committed suicide. The documentary was, I guess, his parents way of trying to make sense of the loss but it was hard to watch. So much pain and his parents still seemed like it hadn't quite hit them yet.
So sad to hear this. Dana & her son were my neighbors many years ago. She was so sweet but at the same time screwed up. Tyler would've been around 3 at the time.
i heard it put very well once. there's 'little d' depression and 'BIG D' Depression.
most everyone has had little d at one time or another.
but if you haven't experienced 'BIG D', you don't know one thing about real clinical depression. it's a totally different thing.
this is a very sad story.
nancer, that's a good way to put it. everybody gets a little sad or depressed once in a while. it's when it crosses the line into clinical depression (i think the description is lasting over 2 weeks with certain symptoms). i've witnessed it, and i've been there, but both DS and i have learned to monitor ourselves.
to 3 degrees: why do people always blame disney? not all child actors work/worked for disney, and when walt was alive, he really did watch out for the disney kids.
parenting and brain chemistry are at fault, not one corporate entity.
sad! sad! RIP guy!
I'm real sad for this kid and real sad for RocketQueen and JJ.
i too have experienced suicide on a very personal level, and it's so true that it leaves behind a legacy of pain that takes a lot of real support and love to get through and even then sometime's it's not enough.
i feel for this kid and have felt what he's felt. we can never promise that the pain will ever go away, but sometime's it is worth it to find out. i wish he'd givin life another chance. i hope he's pain free and peacefully reunited with his mom now.
Bionic Bunny, not "blaming" Disney at all. They are simply a good example because they have a high concentration of child entertainers in their ranks, and (my opinion) are seen as a place by parents, agents and even kids themselves to make an entrance into the entertainment biz.
It's not a corporation's responsibility(nor a government, nor any other entity outside of a parent) to prepare our children as well as possible for life's challenges, AND to keep them out of and away from situations that they are simply not developmentaly ready to handle at a particular point in time (helloooo Billy Ray Cyrus...).
Disney's (or NBC with Diff'rent Strokes, or any other entertainment channel) isn't at fault over these things. As a parent, if I make a decision to put my child out into the work place at an early age, if I hold out children's entertainment (or sports, or anything else in life) as something to which my kids should aspire, and then don't do my job to directly protect and prepare them along the journey then I'm at fault. The really sad part is that the kids (and in this case their kids) are the ones who eventually pay the piper (helloooo Dina Lohan...).
Final thought: As a parent you can do all of he right things, and things may still not turn out for the best. Accidents, medical problems (Clinical Depression, or any other major issue) can happen. Even so, you always have to fight the fight for your kids, and NOT do things that will stack the odds against them. If that means keeping them out of the workplace, forgoing a bunch of money because it's not the right choice for them, then that's what it means.
Very, very sad.
May they both be at peace.
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