Opinion | Like Katie Meyer's parents, I almost lost my son to perfectionism

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Having nearly lost my perfectionist son, Noah, to suicide in 2018, it’s what I always wonder when I hear that a young, accomplished person has taken his or her life. As it turns out, Katie’s parents also wondered how much of a toll the pressure to excel had taken on their daughter.

“There is anxiety and there is stress to be perfect, to be the best, to be number one,” Katie’s mother, Gina Meyer, said, choking back tears during an interview on “TODAY” days after her daughter’s death.

Watching Gina Meyer and her husband cry was almost unbearable. Their grief left me feeling as helpless as I did four years ago when a friend’s son died by suicide only days after Noah was finally discharged after spending three months in a psychiatric hospital."