ABC star James Longman reveals shocking tragedy rocked his family: ‘It was like a bomb went off’

ABC star James Longman said it felt like a “bomb that went off” when his father and grandfather killed themselves while revealing his family’s struggles with mental health.

Longman, 37, from London, lost his father John, who suffered from schizophrenia, when he was just nine years old. His father, an artist, had set fire to his apartment and jumped out of the window, according to The I paper.

He learned of his father’s passing while attending boarding school in England, where he was left with five other boys and no explanation as to why his father was gone or what caused the fire.

This was not the first suicide the Longman family had suffered, as the ABC News journalist also lost his grandfather, Jimmy, to suicide.

‘When someone dies by suicide, it’s like a bomb going off. It kills the person and it hurts everyone else,’ he told his GMA colleagues Tuesday ahead of his book release.

Longman began researching his father’s illness, as well as his family history, to understand his parentage and to ‘find him’ beyond his death.

“When somebody ends their life, that’s the only thing somebody remembers and that defines them,” he said. ‘So much was withheld, so much secrecy. So it’s a journey of finding him and who he was, away from illness.’

The chief international correspondent tracked down people from his father’s life, including one of his caretakers, who lived just 20 minutes from him. He also delved into 120 pages of his father’s medical records to find answers.

Longman’s father had been institutionalized before he was born, and through his research he found that John had undergone electroconvulsive therapy, also known as ECT, and was on antipsychotics, which he took irregularly.

After his parents separated when Longman was just three, his father would continue to be in and out of psychiatric hospitals and cared for by professionals.

“His carer told me, ‘I took your dad to your school once because he said he wanted to be near you.’ Thinking about it now makes me cry because I knew I was loved but I didn’t know (didn’t know if my dad wanted me),’ he told The I Paper.

“But knowing that day he asked her to drive him near my school, I get so hot thinking about it. He wanted to be near me. It was the most amazing thing , I found out.’

Another discovery he made through his research was that his father – who had attempted suicide before his birth – had been looked after.

‘Because (of) my father’s life, I had always imagined that he was not taken care of. And actually, what I discovered was that he was very careful,” he told the British broadcaster. ‘He had a day center he could go to, a day hospital, art therapy classes. If he had to see a psychiatrist, it would be within a week.

‘And none of that is available now.’

Longman’s father and grandfather were not the only ones in his family to suffer from mental illness, as his uncle Tony also suffered from schizophrenia and his mother, Ann, has depression.

The British-born journalist also admitted to GMA that he has suffered from a ‘deep sadness’ in the past.

Ann often describes the family’s mental health problems as ‘The Longman Curse’, he told The I Paper.

This pushed Longman to investigate genetics and how it interacts with the development of mental illness.

He spoke with geneticists, neuroscientists and mental health experts to gain a deeper understanding to look at how trauma can be passed down genetically through generations.

‘You can’t change your genetic make-up, but you can turn dispositions up or down. You can inherit trauma, but you can also inherit healing,’ he told The I Paper.

He also believes that his mother, who distanced herself from his father, may have saved him from suffering from schizophrenia herself, which often appears in people before their 20s.

“There’s every chance she saved me from schizophrenia, I think,” he told the British broadcaster.

Longman, who is married to Alex Brannan, also spoke about how community is important in life and having a support system.

“Community is so powerful,” he said. ‘When people have these diseases in these families, they are often cut off.

‘Alex for me has really just been my saviour. He’s just the most beautiful person, and if you find people in your life who can get you through, that’s what you need.’

Longman herself has suffered from suicidal thoughts in the past and credits her husband for keeping him on this earth when they resurfaced in 2022.

He described his own depression as feeling like a ‘deep sense of doom, of meaninglessness. I’m numb.’

“It’s not that I get sad, it’s that I can’t find joy,” he said. He also believes that his depression is linked to his anxiety, overthinking and exhaustion.

Ultimately, Longman is aware of the stigma surrounding mental health and hopes his half-memoir-half-research book will help others struggling.

“The point of the book is to give people hope,” Longman said. ‘There is so much shame associated with these issues and the idea is to break through that shame and tell people there is a way forward.’