A News Magazine - Lisbon, Portugal
Katie committed suicide in a bipolar crisis and the father wrote in the obituary a message to humanity (Portugal)
By Rui Antunes - Read the original Article in Visao here
Residing in a small town on the eastern coast of the United States, Ed learned to deal with the ups and downs caused by the disease and realized that, for lack of knowledge, most people had behaviors that hurt patients. So he decided to take advantage of his daughter's obituary to pass on a message to the world against the stigma of mental illness.
Katie’s Story – one of the most inspiring people of 2016
2016 wasn’t all bad. Here are the 11 most inspiring people we met this year.
By Colby Itkowitz – Read the Original Article in The Washington Post here
When his daughter, Katie, died by suicide, he honored her life by writing an obituary that was honest about her bipolar disorder and cause of death. A deacon at his church, Shoener wanted his community and the world to understand that his daughter was very sick, but her life was so much more than her illness. He wanted to do his part to erase the shame long associated with mental illness.
Grieving father’s commonsense message about mental illness is a wake-up call
By Sharon Grigsby - Read the original article from The Dallas Morning News
Thanks goodness for quality resources that exist in North Texas. Thank goodness for all the research underway. And thank goodness for brave people like the Shoener family, including Katie herself, who remind us of what this battle looks like, even under the best of conditions.
Theodore Decker: Dad’s advice after daughter’s suicide inspires many
By Theodore Decker - Read the original article on The Columbus Dispatch
Ed and Ruth Shoener are in Columbus this weekend to pack up their daughter’s belongings, including her many books. The Rev. Tim Ahrens, senior pastor at First Congregational Church on East Broad Street, has said his congregation will find the books a proper home. Ahrens, who has highlighted mental illness in weekly sermons, was one of the many strangers who reached out to the Shoeners.
Theodore Decker commentary: It will take all of us to shine a light on suicide
Read this article from the Columbus, Ohio Dispatch
Shoener believes that our mental health system now falls short, but he remains optimistic that research and committment will change that. He also believes that laypeople can contribute by talking more about mental illness and suicide. "Society has to come out of the shadows on this," he said.
Pennsylvania father's emotional obituary for daughter urges compassion for mentally ill
By Patricia Madej - Read the original article on the PhillyVoice here
Ed Schoener wrote his daughter, Katie, was love by everyone, but bipolar disorder kept her from seeing that.
Scranton father writes heartbreaking obituary on daughter's suicide
By Jessica Parks - Read original article on the Philly.com
... wanted the world to know that labels matter, especially for mental health and other disorders where stigma and silence can prove deadly.
Parents use daughter's obituary to discuss the stigmas around mental health
By Simone Olivero - Read original article on Yahoo News
Losing a child is never easy, but losing one to suicide can be especially difficult. When Deacon Edward R. and Ruth Shoener lost their daughter Katie last week, they decided to take the opportunity to talk about something that has long been considered taboo: her mental illness.
A Web Magazine - Livorno, Italy
She loved life - A father in mourning writes of the suicide of daughter with a mental illness (Italy)
By Andrea Monaci - Read original article from Urban Post here
From the United States comes a dramatic story and a very strong invitation to rethink our way of relating to those suffering from mental disorders
Deacon’s candid words following the death of his daughter are raising awareness about mental illness and suicide
Read the original article from the Catholic Light - Diocese of Scranton here
Ed points to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states: “Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide. We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to Him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.”
The Spiritual Side of Katie’s Story
Read the original article from Deacon Digest here
But death is transformed by Christ's death and Christ has transformed the curse of Katie's illness and death into a blessing ... for so many people who have found her obituary to be a source for comfort and strength.
A deacon’s daughter loses the battle with bipolar disorder: “She was a beautiful child of God”
By Deacon Greg Kandra - read the original article on the Deacons Bench
On the deacon’s daughter who committed suicide: ‘God will use this death to help others come out of the shadows’
By Deacon Greg Kandra - read the original article on the Deacons Bench
Attitudes progressing about mental illness
By Matthew A. Berger, M.D. - Read original article from the Scranton Times here
The August suicide of Katie Shoener, a Scranton native whose local obituary generated national news attention, is a prime example of families and people coming forward to share their pain and their story in such a way to make the world more aware of mental illness and to elicit empathy. Undoubtedly, the death of Katie, who battled bipolar disorder, is a tragedy. But it is my hope that her death will facilitate lifesaving interventions for millions of Americans who otherwise would not have come forward and sought treatment.
Candid obit encourages mental health dialogue
By Clayton Over - Read the original article from the Scranton Times here
...she wanted people to know they could be made whole again. The fact that people are talking about mental illness, she’d be thrilled.
NEPA Scene is the independent arts and entertainment website Northeastern Pennsylvania has been waiting for.
Scranton woman’s obit goes viral for speaking honestly about mental illness and suicide
Read original article from the NEPA Scene here
The morning it was published, NEPA Scene shared the obituary on Facebook along with many in Northeastern Pennsylvania who were touched by Katie’s story and her father’s candid words, the link quickly going viral and being quoted in articels across the web. Our readers offered condolences and told their own personal stories in the comments.
‘Bipolar Did Not Define Katie;’ Father Pens Touching Obituary for Daughter
SCRANTON -- A 29-year-old Scranton woman's obituary is getting national attention, and it's all because of how her father wrote it. "That's not who they are," Shoener added. "They are a child of God. So I think a lot of it is how we talk about it as a society, that it is an illness and we should be able to talk about it." And since Katie's obituary went online, Shoener learned he and his wife are not alone - in fact, far from it. "The response has touched the core of many people around the country and around the world that we need to talk about mental illness," he explained.
Journalism for people who care about Minnesota
Links roundup: In obituaries, more families are choosing to be open about mental illness
By Andy Steiner - read original article from the MinnPost here
Some mental health advocates are saying that this increasing honesty about the sometimes-lethal side effects of mental illness is a positive trend, hoping that expanding the public discourse over mental health through death notices may reduce negative stereotypes, encourage treatment and save lives.
We’re telling stories worth your attention.
Father's Obituary Exposes How We Discuss Mental Illness
Read original article from the ATTN: here
... it's short sighted to define people by their mental health diagnoses alone.
Explore. Explain. Expose.
Father Uses Daughter’s Obituary to Make a Powerful Statement About Mental Health
By Anna Swartz - read the original story from Mic here
...an important message about mental health that everyone should see.
Covers more than 100 towns in New Jersey and New York
New Jersey Freeholder Uses Katie’s Obituary to Plead for Understanding and Compassion Towards Mental Illness
By Curtis Leeds - read the original story from the TAPinto News Flemington/Rariton New Jersey here
Freeholder Rob Walton ... seized on yesterday's regular freeholder meeting to spread a message, just as Kathleen Marie Shoener's dad used her obituary to explain her death and disease. Walton did it by reading into the record the obituary...
Katie’s obituary used to support New Mental Health Hospital In Chattanooga Tennessee
By Roy Exum - read the original story from the Chattanoogan.com here
This precious girl, an undergrad at Penn State with an MBA from Ohio State, simply couldn’t cope and, as a result, will be buried on the very day you read this. I cannot fathom a more meaningful piece of conclusive evidence that the father’s words share on our desperate “need” for a new $25-million, 88-bed, professionally-staffed facility in Chattanooga
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Father’s heartbreaking obituary for his daughter debunks a major myth about mental health
By Emily Shugerman- read the original story on Revelist here
He plead with his community not to use "that phrase."
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
'A sweet, wonderful person': Grieving father discusses suicide, mental illness in daughter's obit
By Christian Alexandersen - read the original story from PennLive here
The tragic story of Penn State alum Katie Shoener, 29, ended the way far too many end for people with bipolar disorder. She died alone and too soon. But with the end of her story comes a new chapter for her parents Ed and Ruth Shoener, of Scranton. It's a chapter foucused on bringing more awareness to suicide and mental illness.
A digital health community created to empower and connect people facing health challenges and disabilities.
Dad Writes Obituary on Mental Illness Stigma After Daughter, Katie Shoener, Dies by Suicide
By Jordan Davidson - read the original story on The Mighty here
Katie Shoener was not bipolar, she had an illness called bipolar disorder – an important distinction
SheKnows Media is a leading women's lifestyle digital media company
Woman's death shows why we shouldn't define people by their mental illness
By Meagan Morris - read the original story on sheknows here
Her family doesn't want her to be remembered for her illness or her death; they want her to be remembered for who she was as a person.
Grieving father writes openly about suicide, mental illness in daughter's obit
Read the original story in the Tampa Bay Times here
From The Independent - United Kingdom
This father used his daughter's obituary to make an important point about the way we treat people with mental health issues
Read the original story in the Indy100 here
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