Winning, losing and then sorrow

I've looked at pictures of Erica Blasberg over the past few months, and I couldn't help but fall into that black hole of stereotypes that define the culture of mental illness.

I asked myself, "How could a woman who looks like that commit suicide?"

When I read the news reports now, I ask, "How could we not see this?"

Nearly four months after the LPGA golfer was found dead in her home, officials declared her death a suicide on Tuesday.

The coroner's office of Clark County, Nevada said Blasberg died of suicide due to asphyxia, coupled with the presence of toxic levels of prescription medication in her system, including prescription headache, cough, pain and anti-anxiety medications, according to news reports.

Erica was a 25-year-old golfer who made more headlines for her looks than her wins. She was a number-one amateur performer whose modeling masked the lack of success she had as a professional.

But it's obvious now that it was her career that mattered more. She never lived up to the sky-high expectations that were set for her. She never fit that role of perfection that was created for her.

Most importantly, she may not have had the people around her that she needed, the kind of people who could have guided her through the disappointments and the troubles that plagued her, and blocked the path to success that eluded her.

Her suffering parents even acknowledged that she recently appeared to turn things around, even as they acknowledged that she had had a year filled with trouble and heartache.

Perhaps it was those troubles that ultimately caused her to wrap a plastic bag around her head, and cause her to suffocate? It's tough to say, and no coroner's report in the world could ever make sense of that.

Perhaps Chris Baldwin, from the Culture Map website that's based in Houston, was the most qualified observer of them all. In his Tuesday column, he was able to point out the signs that few others were able to see, only because he is not only a fan of sports but also an observer of life.

Chris Baldwin, as his bio tells, worked at traditional newspapers and online publications, covering everything from the World Series to New York City politicians to Justin Timberlake. CultureMap, he says, is a daily digital magazine that presents an "intelligent, provocative, needed voice" on culture.

It was from this place that he crossed paths with Blasberg, at an LPGA event in 2007, when he was able to identify the signs that are too often taken for granted whenever anyone is suffering silently from mental illness.

The first line in his post said it all:

The last time I saw Erica Blasberg, she was in tears on a golf course — and her putter was flying through the air.