Rep. Jamie Raskin On The Life And Legacy Of His Son, Tommy Raskin

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Rep. Jamie Raskin remembers his son Tommy as «remarkable from the beginning. Tommy Raskin took his own life on Dec. 31 after facing depression.

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Jamie Raskin and Tommy Raskin in an undated photo. «It wasn’t his mind that marked him as so extraordinary, Jamie Raskin says. «It was his heart.

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In his 20s, Tommy began seriously suffering from depression, his parents write in a remembrance. It was «a kind of relentless torture in the brain for him that became «overwhelming and unyielding and unbearable.

Depression affects hundreds of millions of people around the world and is one of the most common mental disorders in the U.S. It increases the risk of suicide. Most of the people who die by suicide have had a mood disorder such as depression.

The pandemic has exacerbated the problem. A study published in September found the percentage of people experiencing symptoms of depression was three times the number from before the pandemic.

The Raskin family has now created the Tommy Raskin Memorial Fund for People and Animals. And hundreds of people are sharing good deeds they’ve done in his name, as The Washington Post reported.

Jamie Raskin received a standing ovation when he spoke during debate Wednesday over the Republican effort to overturn Joe Biden’s electoral win. He says he was heartened by words of support from fellow lawmakers of both parties, on the same day he had to evacuate the chamber because of a violent mob takeover.

«That has been a solace and a comfort to me that at this time of the ugliest possible division where we’ve got a violent, seditious mob invading the Capitol, that there is still enough decency and humanity that we can share each other’s pain in this situation, Raskin tells Weekend Edition.

Going forward, Raskin says his family «will keep Tommy very close to our heart. And we will fight for every single thing he asked us to. He says Tommy knew that «the things that we say are our values and principles … only have meaning if we act as if they’re true, if we make them real. And so we can’t let them be empty rhetoric.

Samantha Balaban and Kitty Eisele produced and edited the audio interview.

Samantha Balaban and Kitty Eisele produced and edited the audio interview.