Matthew Warren, son of the Pastor and bestselling author Rick Warren, committed suicide, announced his father Saturday.
Young Matthew was 27 when he took his life after a long, and extenuating battle with mental illness and depression.
His father, the Pastor of the Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest, California, best known for his bestselling book “The Purpose-Driven Life,” took to Twitter to announce the tragedy.
"You who watched Matthew grow up knew he was an incredibly kind, gentle, and compassionate man," he tweeted. "But only those closest knew that he struggled with mental illness, dark holes of depression, and even suicidal thoughts."
"In spite of America’s best doctors, meds, counselors, and prayers for healing, the torture of mental illness never subsided. Today, after a fun evening together with Kay and me, in a momentary wave of despair at his home, he took his life."
In a joint statement, Rick and his wife Kay, said, "No words can express the anguished grief we feel right now." Rick and Kay's youngest son Matthew struggled with mental illness from the time he was born.
The parents described their son Matthew as gifted with a brilliant intellect and an uncanny ability to sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room.
“He'd then make a beeline to that person to engage and encourage them," they said.
Matthew's suicide reignites questions surrounding mental illness, which has been brought up in debate recently surrounding gun control. Some people defend that mental illness goes more often than not untreated and advocate a pressing need to more attention be paid on the matter.
