Baek Se-hee, South Korean author who documented her mental health struggles, dies at 35

Baek Se-hee, the South Korean author who wrote about her mental health struggles in her bestselling 2018 memoir “I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki,” has died at the age of 35.

The Korea Organ Donation Agency announced Baek’s death on Thursday, saying the author had saved five lives through the organ donation of his heart, lungs, liver and kidneys to the Islan Hospital of the National Health Insurance Service in South Korea.

The cause of his death has not been revealed.

Following Baek’s death, his publishing house, Bloomsbury, released a statement from its publisher on Friday.

“The generosity that Baek Se-hee showed in sharing her own story with such vulnerability and candor cannot be underestimated,” the statement said. “To read her books is to want to talk about them. She always sought connection and wanted her words to be useful and consoling.”

Anton Hur, Baek’s translator, spoke out on social media on Thursday, writing that “she has touched millions more lives with her writing. My thoughts are with her family.”

Before his death, the author opened up about his struggles with depression and anxiety in his 2018 memoir and self-help book, “I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki.”

Bloomsbury’s description of the internationally bestselling memoir states: “By recording her dialogues with her psychiatrist over a period of twelve weeks and expanding each session with her own reflective micro-essays, Baek begins to unravel the harmful behaviors that keep her locked in a cycle of self-abuse.”

Following the book’s success, Baek released a sequel in 2019 titled “I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki,” in which she “vulnerably shows that the search for contentment is a lifelong journey,” according to Bloomsbury.

In her writings, she revealed her struggle with dysthymia, defined by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH) as a persistent depressive disorder “characterized by chronic, low-level depression that is not as severe but may last longer than major depressive disorder.”

An estimated 1.5% of American adults have experienced dysthymia in the past year, according to the NIH.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis lifeline. You can also call the network, formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.