Cheslie Kryst had 'high-functioning depression' that she hid even from those closest to her until just before death, mom says

• Cheslie Kryst's mother responded to her death with an emotional Instagram post.
• The former Miss USA "hid her pain from everyone," April Simpkins wrote.

The former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst had "high-functioning depression" that she largely concealed before her death, her mother said Wednesday.

The 30-year-old lawyer, reporter, and beauty queen died Sunday in New York City. The police said she jumped from the apartment building where she lived.

In her first statement since Kryst's death, her mother, April Simpkins, wrote on Instagram on Wednesday about her daughter's death.

"Today, what our family and friends privately knew was the cause of death of my sweet baby girl, Cheslie, was officially confirmed," Simpkins wrote.

"While it may be hard to believe, it's true," she said.

"Cheslie led both a public and a private life. In her private life, she was dealing with high-functioning depression which she hid from everyone — including me, her closest confidant — until very shortly before her death."

A post shared by April (@aprils_hr)

Simpkins may have been referring to the announcement earlier this week by medical officials confirming Kryst's cause of death as suicide, as CNN reported.

Experts say suicide is a phenomenon that rarely has a single cause, though issues like depression are associated with it.

"High-functioning depression" is not a clinical diagnosis but rather a description some people use to describe having depression while continuing to live without obvious difficulty, as Refinery29 reported. It is not clear what, if any, diagnosis Kryst had from a physician.

Her hundreds of thousands of fans on social media began examining her social-media feeds in seeming disbelief after her death.

Leaving a perfect image on social media, sometimes obscuring reality, is common among people with depression, experts told Insider's Kieran Press-Reynolds.

In a candid 2021 essay for Allure on turning 30, Kryst described dealing with internet trolls and feeling pressured to succeed.

In her post Wednesday, Simpkins wrote that Kryst's death left her "forever changed."

"I have never known pain as deep as this."

Despite her illness, Kryst was a "ball of sunshine wrapped in smiles," Simpkins wrote. She said she had been constantly in contact with her daughter "all day, every day."

"We miss her laugh, her words of wisdom, her sense of humor and mostly her hugs," she said. "We miss all of it - we miss all of her. She was a vital part of our family which makes this loss even more devastating."

"You were more than a daughter - you were my very best friend," she added. "Talking with you was one of the best parts of my day. Your smile and laugh were infectious."

Simpkins encouraged well-wishers to donate to Dress for Success, a women's-empowerment organization for which Kryst was a goodwill ambassador.