'She would get stuck on a thought and it would just go over and over again and just drive her nuts,' says Lori Stephens, whose daughter, Jessica, died by suicide in March
BARRIE — Jessica Stephens loved to dance, had an eye for fashion, embraced new languages and cultures, and had a zest for adventure.
Jessica started getting anxious and began to experience “recurring negative thoughts in her head,” her mother said. She was eventually diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder , but unlike what most people thought, it was much more than simply repetitive hand washing. “She loved life, she loved to travel … and she was good in so many ways, but then she’d kind of flip and this mental health would take over,” Lori said. “She’d spin out of control and she’d be so angry. She just couldn’t regulate her emotions.”
She worked as a registered practical nurse for a few years before meeting a man from South Africa, whom she ultimately married and had a child with.Fast forward a few years to 2020 and the couple’s marriage was coming to an end. Jessica’s mental health was not in a good place, Lori said. Jessica never told anyone she was leaving the country, Lori acknowledged, adding she had called local police when she couldn’t locate her daughter but was told there was nothing they could do because she was an adult.
Lori had just returned home from her grandson’s birthday party when there was a knock on the front door. She opened it to find a police officer standing on her porch and she was told her daughter, who she’d just spoken with on March 10, was dead. Although Lori said she’s choosing to keep the details private about how and why Jessica ended up on the other side of the ocean, she believes it was her daughter’s struggle with mental health that ultimately led her to make the decisions that took her to Norway.“If it can save even one life ... One suicide is one too many. People need to know that there are a lot of people out there struggling with mental health issues and it can end very tragically and very fast,” she said.
Shortly after her death, Lori, Robert, and Jessica’s two younger siblings flew to Norway to collect Jessica’s ashes and bring her back home.
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