PTSD Veteran's Life Ended on 3rd Suicide Attempt

Rutherford family hopes story of loss will help to break mental illness stigma
North Jersey News
BY JAIMIE JULIA WINTERS
AUGUST 13, 2015

When Fred didn't show up for work at the prison in Jamesburg where he was the inmates' dentist, a state search began almost immediately for him. Fifty hours later Fred was found dead from an overdose of prescription meds in his car outside a home undergoing construction in Monroe Township.

PHOTO COURTESY/FIUME FAMILY

The Fiumes: Anthony, Fred, Joanne, Alyssa, Andrew and Alex. His wife hopes that Fred's story will help others who battle with a mental illness and the family members who support them. Fred took his own life on July 29.

Rutherford resident Dr. Fred Fiume made people smile and laugh whether it was through his gregarious nature or his work as a dentist. He served his country in the Army just 18 months shy of 20 years, was a Rutherford Board of Education trustee for two terms, an Exalted Ruler at the Rutherford Elks Lodge, a well-loved dentist at Gentle Dental in Lyndhurst and the New Jersey Prison System and a loving husband and father of four. But Fred didn't always smile. Many didn't know that Fred would go to a dark place in his mind when his bouts of anxiety and depression would hit him.

So hard, he was hospitalized 10 times and attempted suicide two times before succeeding on July 29.

His wife Joanne Fiume said for 30 years he fought hard to not let his illness define him and successfully did so, but in the end it did because of what she describes of the "hurt going on in his head."

Fred was first misdiagnosed with bi-polar in 1989 at the age of 27 while he was serving at Fort Bragg, NC. It wasn't until 2010 after his second suicide attempt, that doctors said bi-polar was the wrong diagnosis and began treating him for acute depression and anxiety. After that suicide attempt, which was also an overdose after going off his meds, Joanne took control of his medication.
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