Troubled This Is Us writer Jas Waters, who took her own life by hanging, had battled depression for 20 years and tried to overdose on pills at age 21, DailMail.com revealed.
What We Know:
- The successful Hollywood writer and reality star wrote in a final emotional post on her blog about how she had a difficult upbringing and was diagnosed with depression at age 19.
“I was first diagnosed with depression at 19. I’d stumbled through a pretty rocky childhood and eventually two years later, it all caught up with me one night when I just didn’t think I could stomach another day of intense sadness. Having your stomach pumped is enough to scar you for life. Trust me on this. More importantly, that and the look of genuine fear in my father’s eyes were enough to learn how to live with depression,” Waters wrote.
- Two years after Waters’ first suicide attempt, she ingested an entire bottle of Tylenol PM to “break through this overwhelmingly thick barrier of hopelessness”.
- Leading up to her death, it appeared the Kidding writer’s torment only intensified during her time in isolation due to the ongoing coronavirus lockdown. When loneliness took a toll, Jas often looked to social media as an outlet.
- “I’m in hell,” Waters wrote in a tweet, and “Wonder what my next life will be like,” in another, while in a dark foreshadowing tweet on March 30 she wrote just two words: “Creative Strangulation.”
- “It is a disease. It’s not an emotion,” Waters wrote. “And it’s something that with lots of time, self-work and consistent effort, anyone can overcome. I am living proof.”
For most of the day I looked like Redd Foxx so this is nice. pic.twitter.com/wP47zSPwql
— Jas Waters (@JasFly) April 29, 2020
I'm tired of sheltering in place with my anxiety. Most days is nearly debilitating. Hence, the cooking simply for the calm it brings. So if you're struggling just to keep the fear of the unknown in check, know that you're not alone. I'm with you.
— Jas Waters (@JasFly) April 25, 2020
- Waters’ father, Joseph, admitted his daughter had struggled with social isolation for months but does not believe that is why she took her life.
- This week there was an outpouring of tributes for Waters from celebrities she worked with including Reese Witherspoon, Mandy Moore, Susan Kelechi Watson, and Chrissy Metz.
“Long before she was JAS FLY or any kind of Hollywood writer, she was my little girl. My daughter was a brilliant, articulate, beautiful young woman who didn’t deserve this at all.” – Waters’ Father; Joseph
- Chicago-born, Waters had a star-studded career, working on blockbuster movies Spiderman 1 & 2, Hardball, Save the Last Dance, MTV’s Real World, Barbershop 1 & 2, and NBC’s ER.
- She contributed to 18 episodes of the hit NBC drama This Is Us during 2018 and 2019, and most recently served as a story editor on the Showtime series Kidding starring Jim Carey, Frank Langella and Judy Greer.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
