“It is an actual illness,” Linda Rossi tells WCBS New York’s Marla Diamond, speaking of her daughter Chrissy’s struggles with bipolar disorder. “Let’s open up the dialogue. Let’s help these people get the help they need.”

Linda describes how her daughter “tried everything.” “Chrissy just wanted to be happy,” she says. Chrissy ultimately succumbed to bipolar disorder and died by suicide at the age of 26. While going through her daughter’s belongings, Mrs. Rossi found dozens of articles on mental illness that Chrissy had clipped. The family decided to found Chrissy’s Wish, a nonprofit organization that raises funds to support the research grants awarded by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.

Listen to Linda Rossi's interview with Marla Diamond on CBS Radio.