In 1988, Anderson Cooper’s older brother, Carter, died by suicide, perThe New York Times. Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt, his mother, struggled to understand why their loved one chose to end his own life.
In aCNNessay in 2018, Cooper revealed that “not a day goes by when I do not find myself thinking about what happened and asking, ‘Why?'” He went on to describe his late brother as “gentle” and deeply sensitive. Although somewhat worried about Carter’s “anxious, distracted” behavior before his death, Cooper was reassured when his brother sought therapy — only to later discover that Carter has been recalcitrant in his sessions, preferring to keep his pain hidden.
Vanderbilt had her own theories about her son’s death, writing in her 1996 book, “A Mother’s Story,” that she “blamed side effects of the asthma drug salbutamol for the death of her son,” ABC Newsreported in 2011.