Not so for me. I’m only starting out on this career path and maybe that is why the untimely death of Heath Ledger had such a profound effect on me this week.

Heath Ledger wasn’t the first young movie star to die prematurely, but he is the first of my generation. He was only a couple of years older than I am.

James Dean died in 1955 aged 24 and River Phoenix died in 1993 at just 23 years of age. Dean died in a tragic car smash and Phoenix suffered a heart attack following a massive drug binge on a night out.

Heath Ledger was found alone in his room surrounded by bottles of prescription medication. He was neither driving recklessly nor partying in LA.

It is unclear whether or not Heath Ledger took his own life, but he was obviously suffering terribly to get himself in such a state.

Over the past few years in Derry, there seemed to have been something of an epidemic of young people taking their lives. At one stage, it felt that barely a week went by without some young person in the city succumbing to despair. Thankfully, we haven’t heard of a suicide in the city for some time but the dangers are always there.

It is difficult for us to understand how some people, who have much so live for, take the decision to end their lives. Along with the heartbreak of loss, it must be painfully frustrating for their friends and family when their potential for future friendship, love and happiness is so glaringly obvious to all around.

But therein lies the twisted, destructive power of an illness such as depression.

While we who do not suffer from it are blissfully unaware of its nature, depression eats away at the mind of its victim.

Let’s look at the facts relating to Heath Ledger. He was an extremely handsome, talented and successful man. When he was 26 he was Oscar nominated for his performance as a reluctantly gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain. Rolling Stone magazine said: "Ledger's magnificent performance is an acting miracle. He seems to tear it from his insides."

A friend of mine informed me that Michael Caine said he was so blown away by Ledger’s acting ability that when they were filming a scene together, Caine completely fluffed his lines.

This summer he will appear as ‘The Joker’ in Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to ‘Batman Begins’ - ‘The Dark Knight’. That is a role that any young actor would give his right arm for. He was obviously an actor at the top of his game.

‘Close-knit family’

Ledger had a two year-old daughter, whom he doted on, and a close-knit family back in Australia. He spent Christmas 2007 in Perth with his family and said: “It's just been awesome. It's really enabled me to be a boy again from home and feel like I'd never left.