Gayle King Remembers the ‘Sparkle’ of Cheslie Kryst—And Hopes to Shine a Light on ‘High-Functioning Depression’

Gayle King, the long-time journalist and current CBS Mornings host, is known for both her interview skill and the depth, length, and quality of her friendships. In the days following the death of her mentee-turned-close-friend Cheslie Kryst, King has asked herself a recurrent set of questions. “I really can’t get over it,” King tells me when we speak by phone a few days after Kryst’s death, which has been determined to be due to suicide. “I’m haunted by it. I did know her. It’s—I don’t even know how to comprehend or wrap my brain around what’s happened. I really, really don’t.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Many of those who knew Kryst or admired her from afar saw was a woman who had it all. But those who may have made such an assumption should not feel culpable, says Rheeda Walker, a clinical psychologist and director of the University of Houston’s Culture, Risk, and Resilience Lab. There, among other things, Walker and her team research the risks, patterns, and after-effects of suicide and Black adult mental health. “Hopefully Ms. King and others who knew her [Kryst] personally will give themselves a little bit of grace through their grief,” Walker says. Read more: What We Misunderstand About Suicide Among Black Americans King and Kryst first met in 2019. That year, when the turmoil of COVID-19 was not yet in sight, King’s show did a sit-down interview with the tr...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Mental Health nationpod Source Type: news