Heather Armstrong: 'Queen of the mommy bloggers' who shared struggles with alcoholism and depression dies at 47

2023-05-11 04:57

Dooce died on Tuesday, May 9, at her home in Salt Lake City

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: Popular blogger Heather B Armstrong who was known by her online name 'Dooce' died on Tuesday, May 9, at the age of 47. The cause of her death was suicide. On Tuesday, Armstrong's boyfriend Pete Ashdown found her in their home in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has been vocal about her battles with motherhood, depression, and alcoholism, said Ashdown.

Armstrong's death was announced on her Instagram page on Wednesday, May 10. "Heather Brooke Hamilton aka Heather B. Armstrong aka Dooce aka the 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," the caption read.

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'Dooce's career as a blogger

In 2001, Armstrong grew popular after the launch of her blog Dooce.com. Armstrong wrote under the pseudonym 'Dooce,' which originated from the instant messenger AOL where the word slang for 'dude' was developed by one of her friends. She gained a huge following through her writings and blogs where she opened up about her personal life and motherhood.

In 2009, she was named one of the most influential women in media on Forbes' Top 30 list and also appeared on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show.' Armstrong's blog garnered more than 100,000 daily viewers in 2011 and was crowned by the New York Times as 'The Queen of the Mommy Bloggers' in one of the articles written about her in the outlet.

Armstrong's blogs reflected her mental health struggles

Through her blogs, Armstrong shared her mental health problems including her being hospitalized for postpartum depression and her 2012 divorce from her husband Jon Armstrong, a web developer. The famed blogger documented her struggles with depression she had from a young age through her writings, reported New York Post.

In her latest blog post on April 6, Armstrong shared her journey to sobriety and her 19-year-old child. "I now understand that ‘what was happening to me’ was a physical reconciliation with pain. 22 years of agony I had numbed with alcohol had come alive and transformed itself into an almost alien life form. I often felt like I was being electrocuted for hours at a time," she wrote in the blog.

"The core of my body absorbed the shock of it all, and it brought me to my knees. I was forced to stare this wild-eyed savage straight in the face, and now I look around and think, 'Oh, this. This is just life. All of this is just a physical reaction to psychological pain'," she added.

Armstrong has penned several books titled 'It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita', 'Dear Daughter', and 'The Valedictorian of Being Dead: The True Story of Dying Ten Times to Live.' She leaves behind her two children, Marlo Iris Armstrong, 14, and Leta Elise Armstrong, 19.