Prodigy / New Age Musician commits apparent suicide at 14

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At 3, Brandenn E. Bremmer began to play the piano. At 10, he received his high school diploma. On Tuesday, at 14, he ended his life.
“Our parents are at peace with his death. They have accepted it. They understand he did what he needed to do,” said Dawn Davidson-Rivas, 24, one of the prodigy’s two older sisters.

“We do not believe Brandenn was suffering from mental illness or that he was depressed,” Davidson-Rivas said.

rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_3634805,00.html
 
So if he wasn’t depressed, what are they saying. Do they think if you are that smart it is OK to end life early? They must be in shock to say that.
 
Well, I have heard many times that children/adults considered prodigies are usually geniuses and geniuses boardline on being mentally ill anyway because they use their brain more than a person of average intelligence (i’ll have to find a link to this info). So to have that label, he is obviously susceptable to mental illness.

Being someone of higher than average intelligence (psychiatric approved IQ test), I know what it is like to have the pressure and expectations placed on you when people know that you have the potential to do something great. It’s a horrible feeling because if you can’t do it, or don’t want to, you disappoint so many people.
In school, peers feel intimidated when you are smarter, they shun you, call you names, which adds to the self-hatred. When you advance in school (ie. skip grades), the peers in that group alienate you. I’m not claiming to be a prodigy ( i know I’m not), but I’ve suffered from depression, which resulted in my drug addiction, because of this. I could immagine that it was 1000 times worse for this boy. The family saying he wasn’t depressed seems very far-fetched to me. He had to have been. If he wasn’t, he’s far stronger than I.
 
I read in our newspaper that his favorite character was Harry Potter, so much so that he dressed up as him.
 
It amazes me how people are trying to romanticize suicide. You are dead and you committed a huge sin to be dead. Not very romantic sounding to me. I pray for mercy for that poor boy’s soul.
 
monica fan:
I read in our newspaper that his favorite character was Harry Potter, so much so that he dressed up as him.
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I wonder that too. Maybe kids are too entranced with wizardry and stuff like that. I also read that he and his parents believed that he could either “hear” or “feel” peoples calls for help. If this was from God, the last thing he would have done was commit suicide.
 
We live only about 20 minutes away from Venango, where the Bremmers live, and I am somewhat acquainted with the family. They are about as close to new-agers as we get out here, and the mother’s words listed below are typically quirky. As has been noted here, it is another (with Hunter S. Thompson’s being a recent example) case of the media romanticizing suicide. I am absolutely certain some of Patti’s response is out of a need to cope and a result of shock… but it is also not out of character for her to be making Brandenn out to be some sort of Heinlein-esque messiah of peace and love. The family has been dominated for years now by a (to me) unhealthy desire to satisfy Brandenn’s every whim.

As for his motive, I of course don’t know what he was thinking… but Venango is, geographically and culturally, about as isolated as you can be in the lower 48, especially if you perceive yourself to be destined for greatness. Sadly, it can also be very difficult to fit in here if you are exceptional in any way other than prowess in high school sports. And, to a certain extent, he has been a bit of a carnival act for most of his life, with his family periodically allowing him to appear on television shows like “Leeza” and promoting his music commercially. I believe, even taking into account his family’s statements, he must have felt extremely isolated.

From The Denver Post (denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2771132,00.html):

“What he did was not an act of selfishness, depression or anger,” Patti Bremmer said. “Brandenn was a giving person, connected to the universe in a way people don’t understand.”…
… He also revealed a strong spiritual side.

“We knew he was in touch with things we couldn’t grasp, that no one else could fathom,” Patti Bremmer said.

Although the family attended a Christian church in rural Nebraska, Bremmer gradually assumed the role of instructor on spiritual matters and took his parents in new directions.

“He was above religion,” his mother said. “The way he taught it to us, most religions are like elementary school and the spiritual level is beyond collegiate level - most people can’t grasp it. It shocked us, awed us, and then we had to learn more about it.”

Memorial services will be held in Denver and Omaha, where other family members live, but Bremmer’s parents said they won’t attend.

“We’re different people because of him,” his mother said. “He pointed out how to examine ourselves, how we fit into the universe, how things worked together, and he moved us to a new level of awareness that we would never have considered.”
 
“He was above religion”…huh???

It sounds like they were trying to make him into a religion and maybe they still will.
 
This is scary. It sounds like they elevated their child to a godlike quality. Even though he was highly intelligent, he was still a little boy who needed guidance. I hope no one in the family decides to follow him. They should be put on suicide watch. Why won’t they be attending the memorial services? This makes me very thankful for the guidance we get from the Catholic Church.

“He was above religion,” his mother said. “The way he taught it to us, most religions are like elementary school and the spiritual level is beyond collegiate level - most people can’t grasp it. It shocked us, awed us, and then we had to learn more about it.”

Memorial services will be held in Denver and Omaha, where other family members live, but Bremmer’s parents said they won’t attend.

“We’re different people because of him,” his mother said. “He pointed out how to examine ourselves, how we fit into the universe, how things worked together, and he moved us to a new level of awareness that we would never have considered.”
 
Its a sad day when a thing like this happens and the family doesn’t care. I will pray for him.
 
“They understand he did what he needed to do,” This is an admission that the parents condoned the boy’s suicide. What’s to understand when you accept suicide as a fait accompli? They lived and let him die in the culture of death.
 
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