Christine Chubbuck

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Christine Chubbuck : biography

August 24, 1944 – July 15, 1974

Depression

Chubbuck spoke to her family at length about her struggles with depression and suicidal tendencies, though she did not inform them of her specific intent beforehand. She had attempted to overdose on medication in 1970 and frequently made reference to the event. She had also been seeing a psychiatrist up until several weeks before her death. Chubbuck’s mother chose not to tell station management of her daughter’s suicidal tendencies because she feared she would be fired as a result.Kamstock, Dr. Edwin L. Sarasota County Associate Medical Examiner, Autopsy report #A-74-203, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Dept. file, case #74-15120, July 15, 1974.

Her focus on her lack of relationships is generally considered to be the driving force for her depression; her mother later summarized "her suicide was simply because her personal life was not enough." She lamented to co-workers her 30th birthday was approaching and she was still a virgin who had never been on more than two dates with a man. Her brother Greg later recalled several times she had gone out with a man, before moving to Sarasota, but agreed she had trouble connecting socially in the beach resort town. He believed her constant self-deprecation for being "dateless" contributed to her ongoing depression.Interview with Greg Chubbuck for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Christine Chubbuck", E! Entertainment Television, February 26, 2007.

She had had her right ovary removed in an operation the year before, and had been told that if she did not become pregnant within two to three years, it was unlikely she would ever be able to conceive.

Apparently, she had an unrequited crush on co-worker George Peter Ryan. She baked him a cake for his birthday and sought his romantic attention, only to find out he was already involved with sports reporter Andrea Kirby. Kirby had been the co-worker closest to Chubbuck, but she was offered a new job in Baltimore, which had further depressed Chubbuck.

Chubbuck’s lack of a romantic partner was considered a tangent of her desperate need to have close friends, though co-workers said she tended to be brusque and defensive whenever they made friendly gestures toward her. She was self-deprecating, criticizing herself constantly and rejecting any compliments she was given."Chubbuck Rites On Beach", The Hudson Hub, July 28, 1974.