Decades later, when Isaac Cogdal asked him if he “ran a little wild” after Ann’s death, Lincoln replied: “I did really—I run off the track: it was my first. I loved the woman dearly & sacredly.… I did honestly—& truly love the girl & think often—often of her now.” The depth of Lincoln’s sorrow, and the severe depression he suffered after her demise, may have been partly a result of his unresolved grief at the death of his mother and siblings. Ann’s death unconsciously reminded him of those old wounds, which began to suppurate once again, causing him to reexperience “the bitter agony” he had endured as a youth. Such intense depression can lead to suicide, even among young and physically healthy people like Lincoln.
Source: Abraham Lincoln ∶ A Life ▫𓂃
(echo:: @ ⌗)