Trigger Warning: This story contains mention of suicide.
Two weeks after Sister Wives star Garrison Brown took his own life, his sister Madison Brown Brush is speaking out about the situation and talking about the importance of taking care of mental health issues.
As The Ashley previously reported, Garrison— who is the son of Kody and Janelle Brown—committed suicide on March 5 at his home in Flagstaff, Arizona. Garrison’s death was discovered by his brother, Gabe, who was sent by Janelle to check on Garrison after the 25-year-old sent a series of alarming text messages to her and members of the ‘Sister Wives’ crew the night before.
Janelle and Kody confirmed on March 5 that Garrison had passed away and, on March 9 a family funeral was held to honor him.
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In her video posted to Instagram, Madison (whose parents are also Kody and Janelle), talked about how hard it’s been for the Brown family to go back to living their normal lives following Garrison’s tragic death.
“I am stepping back into normalcy today, as much as you can…obviously the first week [after Garrison’s death] was horrible,” she told her Instagram followers. “We are now two weeks post-Garrison’s death…I wanted to get on [Instagram] before I start going back to real life and talk about some things that I’ve learned.”
Madison first thanked her followers for their condolences and encouraging messages over the past two weeks.
“Thank you for the outpouring of love that we’ve had,” she said. “I have received probably thousands of messages from you guys saying condolences, talking about your experiences with suicide, and just love, and I wanted to say thank you for that,” a choked-up Madison said. “…it’s crazy how many people [suicide] touches.”
Madison said she now realizes how important it is to take care of mental health issues, and to talk about them openly. She pointed to mental health struggles as the reason Garrison took his own life.
“It wasn’t bullying; it wasn’t a lack of love that Garrison had, it was mental health [issues],” Madison said. “I am going to continue talking about mental health and self-care until I am blue in the face because I don’t think it’s talked about enough, in a way that people understand it.”
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Madison said she also learned from her brother’s death how precious time is.
“If you’re not happy how you’re spending your time, and you don’t feel fulfilled in life, I would encourage you to reevaluate, because it’s so fleeting and it’s so precious,” she said, adding that, going forward, she will attempt to be even more “real” on social media.
“I’m done with filters, I want to be authentic,” she said, stating that social media is often a “highlight reel” of someone’s life, rather than a direct reflection.
“That is something that Garrison and I talked about…Garrison used to feel like he wasn’t doing enough because he was comparing himself to things on social media,” Madison said. “And I don’t think [social media] is real, and I think we need to remember that.”
Finally, Madison said Garrison’s death has taught her the value of community, and made her thankful that her family was able to put their differences aside and be together to honor Garrison. (As ‘Sister Wives’ fans know, members of the Brown Family have been at odds for years, and Garrison was still estranged from Kody at the time of his passing.)
“I’ve had a phenomenal community show up. Also, my siblings, we all disagree. We’re all very strongly opinionated people, and we have disagreements on other things. But the way that we can show up for each other, and love each other, in this time, even with our differences…and the way that I’ve had friends and other family show up..”
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“Again, a huge thank you to all of you who have just shown love and, just, kindness over the last few weeks.
You can watch Madison’s full video below.
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(Photos: Instagram; TLC)
Has anyone heard from Gwendolyn or Mariah?
The week Garrison died, Gwyn posted on her Patreon that she would not be putting out any more content on Patreon or YouTube.
“Mariah” posted as Leon
I still can’t believe he’s gone. Garrison had grown into a kind, caring and handsome young man. The situation is so sad. I’m glad Madison is trying to do something positive though. There is definitely a mental health crisis going on in recent years and more and more young people are taking their own lives. This needs to be talked about and we all need to figure out what problems are causing this and how we can fix it.
RIP Garrison.
Prayers for the Brown family and anyone else that has lost a loved one to suicide. 🙏
Maddie was always one of my favorites of the kids.
So sad. I can’t imagine the final thoughts in his mind. Rip to his soul and I hope the family has the strength to get through this.