Mum's Shock Diary Find What My Poor Boy Hid From Us

The Teen's addiction was a shock

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Cherie Adams had no idea her “gorgeous” boy was struggling so much with his mental health until she read the notes he’d made in a journal.

“We found his diary after he died,” she says. “He talked about being bullied from a young age. He worried he had bipolar. It was heartbreaking because we didn’t know.”

Corey died by suicide on June 20, 2011. He was 16.

In the year leading up to Corey’s death, Cherie went through hell and back trying to help her son. There were numerous trips to the local hospital and A&E, where she pleaded with staff to admit him. There were endless counselling sessions.

The troubled teen was prescribed antidepressants and even sectioned to an adult mental health unit. He was also smoking cannabis and using methamphetamine.

Corey spent his early years in Auckland. The family moved to Hawke’s Bay when he was eight. His mum recalls him as a happy kid during primary and intermediate school. It was at high school that it all came unstuck.

“That was when he started having problems,” recalls Cherie. “He loved fitness and sport – he worked out a lot, wanting to be the best, and helped others to train when he set up a home gym.”

But academically, Corey was struggling. He became increasingly miserable and in early 2010, begged his mother to leave school. Recently separated, she agreed with the proviso Corey waited until he turned 16 and went into a trade, which he did working for a painter.

That was the plan, but then the work dried up and Corey was out of a job.