Content warning: This article contains discussion surrounding suicide and mental health.
The “Queen of the mommy bloggers,” known to most by her online name Dooce, has passed away at the age of 47. Real name Heather Armstrong, the internet influencer quickly gained a massive following as she posted the raw truth about her life as a mother, including her struggles with alcoholism and depression. Her unfiltered and humorous approach to her blogs stood her apart from the rest.
Armstrong’s current partner, Pete Ashdown, informed the press as well as Heather’s followers via an Instagram post on the morning of May 10 that Heather passed on May 9. Along with a picture of the late blogger, he captioned the post with song lyrics from “Terrible Love” by The National along and a message of his own:
“Heather Brooke Hamilton aka Heather B. Armstrong aka dooce aka love of my life. July 19, 1975 – May 9, 2023. “It takes an ocean not to break.” Hold your loved ones close and love everyone else.”
Armstrong started her blog back in 2001 before having children. Initially, she used it to talk about pop culture and personal aspects of her life, such as complaints about her job and her boss. She was ultimately fired after her boss inevitably found the blog. Armstrong and her husband moved in with her parents in Utah and she found herself pregnant with the couple’s first child pretty soon after.
After the birth of her children, Armstrong began blogging about her experience as a mother, including every high and low of the experience as she went along. At its height, the Dooce blog was attracting 8 million individual readers, which allowed her to monetize the blog and make a living off of it. She appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and was even named on the Forbes list of most influential women in media.
It was widely known to anyone who followed Heather’s blog that she suffered from chronic depression. It wasn’t until college that she was actually diagnosed with the illness. Heather wrote three books about her experiences, her third and final book The Valedictorian of Being Dead: The True Story of Dying Ten Times to Live gave more insight into her time participating in clinical trials.
Pete Ashdown confirmed that Heather Armstrong took her own life. Ashdown also told The Associated Press that the blogger also battled alcoholism and had been sober for a year and a half prior to experiencing a relapse before her death. Comments from fellow bloggers and long-time followers of Heather spoke words of support and recalled what a strong fighter the mother was.
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (En Español: 1-888-628-9454; Deaf and Hard of Hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. A list of international crisis resourcescan be found here.