The statement "I want to keep living because ____." would have been going though his mind many times over the past days, weeks or even years. Void of any personal reason, the only thing left is work. And let's be real about this.... respect in the smoke & mirrors game of gurus and public speakers is going to feel pretty shallow. So when he pulled into that parking lot and looking for a reason to drive away, it wasn't going to come from work.

There is a recent Tweet from him saying that he has a full schedule through the rest of the year, so money isn't everything.......

I read some of the articles related to the story, I believe it was depression. I find it so hard to believe cause I thought he had everything. He seemed like such a flourishing human being. My prayers are with his family, I hope they can recover from the loss.

At least 3 articles have been posted in this thread alone and a lot more if you Google it. :rolleyes:

Plenty. Here is one: Social media guru and father of six commits suicide | Mail Online

Yahoo News is also reporting it.

Matt, have you ever been depressed to the point where you are suicidal?

I never, never judge another person harshly when it comes to matters like this, which is easy for most people to do. I don't know why some people feel this need to condemn others for actions they have done (or may not have done, depending on the case), when they don't even know the full story.

When you are so depressed you are thinking of taking your own life, you can't think clearly. Let me say that again; when you are suicidal, you can't think clearly. It's impossible to feel anything other than pain of the worst kind. You begin to think of yourself as being unworthy to even call yourself a parent, and that your children would be better off without you.

I remember my local newspaper did an editorial about people with depression. They were basically telling people with depression to "get help", but the way they did it was arrogant and ignorant. They went on to list statistics on how much suicide cost society and family members. In short, they were basically telling people with depression that they were selfish people, which is the absolute worst thing you can do, no matter how true it might be.

At any rate, there is simply no point in judging this man for what he has done. He's gone. That in and of itself is a real tragedy. You can only cause negative feelings for yourself by thinking harshly of him.

I have no doubt that his children will be well cared for, and they will probably feel the same way you do about their father. Or maybe they will forgive him. I don't know, and it's really none of my business anyway.

My point is; don't judge. You don't know the whole story, and never will. You can't accurately paint a picture of this man without seeing the situation from his point of view.

Couldn't have said it better.

I'm too young to understand why people commit suicide and i can't even start imagining how his family must feel. Well, i hope that he is in heaven (if that place even exists) and his kids will somehow get over it.

R.I.P

Let's be careful. Suicide is something that is so much more complex than this comment. I think, yes...tears should be shed for his children. And for him, as well. Put yourself in his shoes and imagine how painful life must have been--even with his level of success--if this was one of the only options he could come up with to make his pain go away.

I wish we lived in a world where suicide, depression, and mental illness did not exist. But, unfortunately, we don't.

Can't we have some level of empathy and sadness for Mr. Pennington? And, by the way, giving him empathy does not rob any feelings of sadness for the children.

Death is sad. This is a terrible loss. My heart goes out to his family, his children, and all of his loved ones--online and offline, too.

This is a common anger directed at those who have killed themselves. Unfortunately, once someone reaches suicide attempt stage they have developed enough insanity to believe their life is so worthless that they won't be missed, people will get over their death quickly and perhaps the world will be a little better if they are gone.

It isn't that he was selfish and abandoned his kids. Things would have been going on in his life that he was not equipped to cope with, it altered his mindset and he was then unable to recognize the mess he would be leaving behind.

It can actually happen to anyone given the right circumstances. We all have a breaking point. The initial trigger for the vast majority of suicides are loss of career, unwanted breakup of family/partner and young gay males being ridiculed. Then it snowballs from there.

Pray don't find fault with the man who limps
or stumbles along the road,
unless you have worn the shoes he wears
or struggled beneath his load.
There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt,
though hidden away from view,
or the burden he bears, placed on your back
might cause you to stumble too.

Don't sneer at the man who's down today
unless you have felt the blow
that caused his fall or felt the shame
that only the fallen know.
You may be strong, but still the blows
that were his if dealt to you,
in the selfsame way, at the selfsame time,
might cause you to stagger too.

Don't be too harsh with the man who sins
or pelt him with word or stone,
unless you are sure, yea, doubly sure,
that you have no sins of your own
for you know perhaps if the tempter's voice
should whisper as softly to you
as it did to him when he went astray,
it might cause you to stumble too.

~ Author Unknown ~

No amount of money can make up for an absent father.

You're absolutely right. Unfortunately, people who are thinking of suicide don't realize this. It's like your brain has been changed so that it can only think negative thoughts that continue in a downward spiral towards oblivion.

It's very, very hard to help a person like this. And it's likely your efforts will fail. But that's no reason not to try.

I actually agree with you there, this topic would be best suited for the off-topic section. And it WOULD be tasteless for people to blatantly use this thread to promote their signatures, if it weren't for the fact that they're automatically added.

I'd remove mine of course, but since my sig is being donated to help another person live, I think it's appropriate.

Agree 100%. There's an ad for a site that helps people with depression that I really like. It goes like this:

It's so true. Depression is very much like cancer in many ways. Thankfully, the one key difference is that unlike some forms of cancer, depression is curable.

Thank you Jamie and others for pointing out that depression is a form of mental illness. A heartbreaking mental illness. Untreated, it will absolutely lead a smart, capable person to fall into such a dark hole that they can't see their way out and as if they really have no other choice. It's the illness speaking to them; their mind has gone beyond the ability to rationale.

And unfortunately, there is still a stigma attached to the illness that causes some folks to not seek treatment.

Also, I would suspect that it's especially tough for anyone who is viewed as a leader in the positive thinking/personal development to "tell it like it is" for them, when the positive thinking movement promotes always being upbeat. I'm a proponent of the positive thinking movement, but we also need to be able to tell the truth about what's going on with us.

So it's a tough line to straddle between "telling one's truth" and always being upbeat. I understand that Trey was model of always speaking positively. My heart breaks for how deeply he must have suffered. And my heart breaks for the six children. I can't even imagine how crippling Trey's illness must have been for him to make the decision he did. I know it is very, very difficult for a parent who has never dealt w/ the crippling illness to understand that it was, I suspect, the illness that pushed Trey over the edge.

May we hold all the children in prayer. Success doesn't trump mental illness unfortunately. If only it did.