Found Deceased NY - Sheila Abdus-Salaam, 65, Harlem, 12 April 2017

[Eloise]

I agree. The timing especially gives me pause.

"The judge, 65, had recently told friends and a doctor that she was suffering from stress. And tragedy had followed her closely: On Easter in 2012, her mother committed suicide at age 92, according to two law enforcement officials. Two years later, around the same holiday, her brother shot himself to death, the officials said."

Wow. Even at the same time of year? It must have been very hard for her.


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[LayzeeDayzee]

Above quote from this article:
http://www.christianpost.com/news/s...judge-married-to-christian-found-dead-180387/

I find it most peculiar, according to this article, that her and husband of 8 months "maintained separate residences" during the week.

 

[LayzeeDayzee]

I did not think it was suicide. But I did not know about the suicides of her brother and her mother. Those are huge red flags for me. In my experience, when someone has a close family member commit suicide, that greatly increases their own urges to follow in those tragic footsteps.



This leans me more towards that sad possibility now.

I've read that her brother committed suicide 3 years ago but I've yet to read any MSM article stating her Mother's death had been due to suicide as well. Do you have a link?

I do find it strange that she left her home without her cellphone. In this day and age it seems that for safety reasons a woman would also go out with her cellphone.
Still find it odd that her husband and herself lived in their own respective homes during the week but got together on weekends. Marital issues?

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Maybe that was the living arrangements they both made and it was reasonable to both of them. How far away did she live from the court where she presided on cases during the week? How long would it take for her to commute to and from work if she went home everyday?

I don't think her death was a homicide. It sounds like she was having mental difficulties and just because she was a Judge doesn't make her immune to committing suicide unfortunately.

I don't think her death had anything to do with anything political whatsoever. This was personal pain she couldn't endure about her personal life imo. Perhaps it was close to the anniversary date of one of the loved ones she lost to suicide. Sometimes that can be a trigger.

I have read sometimes depression can be genetic and she had already lost her brother and mother to suicide which may make her more predisposed to also commit suicide.

As far as her making future plans that really means nothing. My husband's 24 year old nephew who committed suicide was planning his wedding with his longtime girlfriend. They met that night at a nice restaurant to discuss their wedding plans and he was very upbeat/happy and giving his own thoughts into wedding ideas. He had also just recently received a big promotion at work. Life was great or so we thought. They left the restaurant with him kissing her goodnight, and him telling her he loved her. 45 minutes later he lay dead from a self inflicted shotgun blast.

My prayers go out to her family. Its a terrible loss for them and to the judicial community.

IMO

 

[blue22]

I've read that her brother committed suicide 3 years ago but I've yet to read any MSM article stating her Mother's death had been due to suicide as well. Do you have a link?

I do find it strange that she left her home without her cellphone. In this day and age it seems that for safety reasons a woman would also go out with her cellphone.
Still find it odd that her husband and herself lived in their own respective homes during the week but got together on weekends. Marital issues?

I posted several links about the mother. She committed suicide 2 years before the brother did. There is a link and quote just a few posts up.

 

[DatelineFan]

The SSRI class of anti-depressants give you suicidal thoughts, The info even comes with it. There are many lawsuits against the pharm company because of people committing suicide while on these. I wish they were taken off the market, but who's going to listen to me. The latest info is you get too much serotonin in your brain and it causes you to commit suicide or commit violent acts. If she was on these, this would definitely be a suicide IMO

They CAN cause suicidal thoughts. Not they do. Big difference.

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[TTF14]

I find it most peculiar, according to this article, that her and husband of 8 months "maintained separate residences" during the week.

I don't find this odd at all. They got married very late in life and likely had their own routines, etc.

 

[crhedBngr]

So very, very sad. Thoughts and prayers going up for Family and Friends.

 

[nancydrew71]

They CAN cause suicidal thoughts. Not they do. Big difference.

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Tell that to the people who's loved ones committed suicide while on these drugs. They are Very Very Scary. IMO they should be off the market, period.

 

[wendybtn]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/...aam-nation-s-first-muslim-judge-found-n746046
Although she kept a Muslim surname professionally from her first marriage, she was not Muslim. Her husband is an Episcopal minister.

 

[flourish]

Tell that to the people who's loved ones committed suicide while on these drugs. They are Very Very Scary. IMO they should be off the market, period.

I would suggest perhaps doing more research on the amount of people helped versus the amount who weren't. How would one determine whether or not someone would have committed suicide whether or not they were medicated? I personally need them to function, so... They help many many people. Nothing is 100%. I strongly suspect more people have been helped than not. No, it's not a good thing that it hasn't helped every single person who has taken it.. No medicine can do that.

I like to think I've made some great contributions to society and individuals in the past two decades and I wouldn't have if I hadn't been medicated... I would have killed myself years ago. But that's just my story. I would need some strong statistics and peer reviewed articles to be convinced they are more harmful than not.

 

[flourish]

The SSRI class of anti-depressants give you suicidal thoughts, The info even comes with it. There are many lawsuits against the pharm company because of people committing suicide while on these. I wish they were taken off the market, but who's going to listen to me. The latest info is you get too much serotonin in your brain and it causes you to commit suicide or commit violent acts. If she was on these, this would definitely be a suicide IMO

Tell that to the people who's loved ones committed suicide while on these drugs. They are Very Very Scary. IMO they should be off the market, period.

And to be fair, the literature doesn't state they "give" suicidal thoughts... Just that it's a possibility. Huge difference.

 

[DatelineFan]

Tell that to the people who's loved ones committed suicide while on these drugs. They are Very Very Scary. IMO they should be off the market, period.

I've been on them for years. Not trying to start a big debate on opinions, only clarifying facts. It's not a fact that they DO. It's a fact that they CAN cause suicidal ideation.


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[flourish]

In case anyone would like to read more about SSRI's, here's a great place to start:
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/top...-information-for-parents-and-caregivers.shtml

More recently, results of a comprehensive review of pediatric trials conducted between 1988 and 2006 suggested that the benefits of antidepressant medications likely outweigh their risks to children and adolescents with major depression and anxiety disorders. The study, partially funded by NIMH, was published in the April 18, 2007, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Also please note that the warnings are specifically in regards to people under the age of 25, as they are the population in which the suicidal thoughts issue has impacted most.

Educating oneself is cool.

 

[nancydrew71]

And to be fair, the literature doesn't state they "give" suicidal thoughts... Just that it's a possibility. Huge difference.

I have three relatives all young men in their early 20's who have had a very bad experience with SSRIs including a death. One was on Prozac and tried suicide 3 times. After he went off them, he had no idea why he wanted to do this. This was 21 years ago and has been fine since!!! Another relative started taking I think Zoloft and got suicidal thoughts too and it scared him so much, he threw them away. Then yet another relative on anti-depressants and I do not know which ones, shot himself dead even though he had great plans for his life including a future planned and paid for vacation.

 

[Hraefn]

I have three relatives all young men in their early 20's who have had a very bad experience with SSRIs including a death. One was on Prozac and tried suicide 3 times. After he went off them, he had no idea why he wanted to do this. This was 21 years ago and has been fine since!!! Another relative started taking I think Zoloft and got suicidal thoughts too and it scared him so much, he threw them away. Then yet another relative on anti-depressants and I do not know which ones, shot himself dead even though he had great plans for his life including a future planned and paid for vacation.

It's definitely a potential side effect/risk with the medications. But IMO people who take the medication with little to no side effects are much much less likely to talk about their experience with it. There's a stigma with taking an "anti-depressant" (I use quotations because SSRIs are prescribed for various reasons, some not even relating to mental health) and so those who successfully use them to manage a condition are not likely to discuss it. Those who have negative side effects IMO are more likely to speak up and warn others of their experience. Over 13% of the US population takes SSRIs and the vast majority of them have little to no side effects.
Link for statistics: http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2467552

ETA: I am truly sorry to hear of the tragic experiences within your family. :rose:

 

[flourish]

I have three relatives all young men in their early 20's who have had a very bad experience with SSRIs including a death. One was on Prozac and tried suicide 3 times. After he went off them, he had no idea why he wanted to do this. This was 21 years ago and has been fine since!!! Another relative started taking I think Zoloft and got suicidal thoughts too and it scared him so much, he threw them away. Then yet another relative on anti-depressants and I do not know which ones, shot himself dead even though he had great plans for his life including a future planned and paid for vacation.

I'm sorry to hear. My family has had three generations of suicide (and attempts) by gun (one survived two did not). The two who succeeded were before the advent of modern antidepressants. I've hijacked this thread enough, just really really take issue with the statement that these meds "give" people suicidal thoughts, because that's simply not true... And the statement about "tell that to the families who have lost family members..." well the same could be said "go tell how harmful they are to families who have lost people to suicide prior to the advent of modern antidepressants."



As the link I posted up thread mentions, suicidal thoughts are a common symptom of depression, so it's practically impossible to determine if some suicides would have happened regardless of the medication or lack thereof.

 

[paigeok]

A lot of factors make me believe this could be a suicide. My gut impulse is that something suspicious was going on, because she had such a long career of making pretty powerful people mad. But maybe that same stressful line of work, along with the stress of being a black woman in a largely white male professional setting, could have been a factor in her suicide just as much as it could have been a reason for someone to target her for murder.

Does anyone have any actual theories about what foul play could have occurred, or is it just a feeling?

 

[whiteballet]

A lot of factors make me believe this could be a suicide. My gut impulse is that something suspicious was going on, because she had such a long career of making pretty powerful people mad. But maybe that same stressful line of work, along with the stress of being a black woman in a largely white male professional setting, could have been a factor in her suicide just as much as it could have been a reason for someone to target her for murder.

Does anyone have any actual theories about what foul play could have occurred, or is it just a feeling?

Besides what you've said about possibly making many enemies, I've seen people suspicious of the fact that she was in the river. Why not at home? It's worth investigating but IMO that alone doesn't make me suspicious.

 

[cnmccarthy]

A lot of factors make me believe this could be a suicide. My gut impulse is that something suspicious was going on, because she had such a long career of making pretty powerful people mad. But maybe that same stressful line of work, along with the stress of being a black woman in a largely white male professional setting, could have been a factor in her suicide just as much as it could have been a reason for someone to target her for murder.

Does anyone have any actual theories about what foul play could have occurred, or is it just a feeling?

No theories here, just a feeling that it could be foul play. [emoji17]


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