NUÇI’S STORY

Nuçi was a talented musician and a promising student at the University of Georgia in Athens. He was beloved by his family and friends, and as many people who struggle with mental illness achieve, he was a master at hiding and “appearing” okay. 

As a young boy Nuçi was known to be happy, caring, even-tempered, funny, and always loving. His mother, Linda, referred to him as a “dream” child. Then as he continued to develop his personality, Nuçi naturally gravitated towards and showed immense talent musically with the guitar. 

As Nuçi entered into adolescence his mother noticed abnormal subtle shifts in his personality, and unbeknownst at the time, it was the expression of his mental illnesses. Linda Phillips writes,

“When KP [Nuçi’s brother] went through adolescence, he was moody and sullen but never became unrecognizable to us. It was as if his traits became exaggerated. He had always been stubborn. At this time, he became more stubborn. Nothing we couldn’t handle. He was always KP.

But happy, caring, great-to-be-around Nuçi began to disappear only to be replaced by a doppelganger. From reveling in the warmth and security of family, he rejected it. He became sullen, withdrawn…”

On Friday, December 21, 1991, at the age of seventeen, Nuçi made a very serious suicide attempt and began to get treatment for his depression

“We had no idea of the depth of his pain and suffering. Suicide had never crossed our minds. His whole change of behavior was almost too much to comprehend. Even though Pierre is a doctor and I am a nurse with psychiatric experience, we never identified Nuçi’s behavior as symptomatic of major depression. Perhaps we were both in denial, not able to allow that our son was sick. But on this Friday before Christmas, we were forced into a reality that we could not have foreseen.”

Since K.P. [Nuçi’s older brother] was well versed in piano and synthesizers, we wanted Nuçi to have a different instrument to establish his own musical identity. I’m not sure why we decided on the guitar, but once we did and put it into his arms, there was an immediate bonding. He and his guitar fused and he showed a strong aptitude from day one…

After his suicide attempt, Nuçi’s life took him to Atlanta, California, and ultimately back to Athens GA where he immersed himself in the music scene.  Nuçi began to blossom and made quite a few new friends. However, the silent suffering of depression, lack of adequate clinical support, and stigma surrounding brain illnesses overpowered and he ultimately took his life in the fall of 1996.

“Major depression is dehumanizing and robs the sufferer and his loved ones of relationships that were once loving and warm.”

In 1999, the Phillips family of Atlanta formed the Nuçi Phillips Memorial Foundation in memory of their 22-year-old son and brother Nuçi after a long battle with major depression.

(Excerpts from Linda Phillips 2016 memoir, A Beautiful Here)

Link to Koncak album on BandCamp.com