(CNN) Former US Rep. Patrick Kennedy left office years ago to focus on battling a drug addiction and bipolar disorder. Now, after his relative Saoirse Kennedy Hill died this week, he's praising her for having written about her depression a few years ago.

Patrick Kennedy

Saoirse Kennedy Hill, a 22-year-old granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy , died after being found unresponsive Thursday at the Kennedy family compound on Massachusetts' Cape Cod. Officials haven't declared the cause or manner of death; an autopsy revealed no relevant trauma, and a toxicology report is pending, officials say.

Patrick Kennedy, a cousin of Saorise's mother Courtney Kennedy Hill, saluted Saoirse on social media and in a TV interview Friday for addressing her mental health struggles publicly in 2016.

"She opened the door for her peers to also come out and not be shamed by this illness, and she's a real hero in my family," he told NBC News . "She broke the silence.

"And we mourn her loss, but her memory will live on as someone who wasn't going to keep silent and wasn't going to be feeling as if she had something shameful but rather something medical that she sought treatment for."

Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures US Sen. John F. Kennedy is joined by his fiancee, Jacqueline Bouvier, at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in 1953. They had just announced their engagement. Hide Caption 1 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures The Kennedy family poses for a portrait in the 1930s. Joseph Kennedy Sr. and his wife, Rose, had nine children. From left are Patricia, Joseph Jr., Robert, Kathleen, Rose, John, Rosemary, Edward, Joseph Sr., Jean and Eunice. Hide Caption 2 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures John, left, and Robert hang out with dog Mo at the Hyannis Port compound in 1946. John, of course, went on to become President after serving in the Senate. Robert, aka Bobby, was a US senator and US attorney general who was assassinated while running for president in 1968. Hide Caption 3 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures Edward, aka Ted, joins future first lady Jackie Bouvier for a game of baseball in 1953. Hide Caption 4 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures John and Jackie Kennedy play with their daughter, Caroline, in 1959. He was elected President one year later. Hide Caption 5 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures Caroline holds cats in the gardens of Hyannis Port in 1961. Hide Caption 6 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures President Kennedy, right, walks with Defense Secretary Robert McNamara in 1961. Hide Caption 7 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures First lady Jackie Kennedy and astronaut John Glenn do a little water skiing in Nantucket Sound in 1962. Hide Caption 8 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures Ethel Kennedy sits with various Kennedy children in 1963, when the family was celebrating the christening of Bobby's son Chris. Hide Caption 9 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures John and Jackie, joined by Caroline and John Jr., play with dogs in 1963. Hide Caption 10 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures President Kennedy, left, swims with family and friends during a weekend in Hyannis Port in 1963. Hide Caption 11 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures John Jr. takes the wheel of a speedboat during Labor Day weekend in 1963. Hide Caption 12 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures A man in Hyannis Port glances outside a window to see Joseph Sr. being pushed in a wheelchair in 1964. Joseph Sr., a former US ambassador to the United Kingdom, died in 1969. Hide Caption 13 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures Ted Kennedy soaks up the sun on a Hyannis Port breakwater in 1969. He became a US senator in 1962, and he held that office until his death in 2009. Hide Caption 14 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures Rose Kennedy plays some golf on the family property. Hide Caption 15 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures Eunice Kennedy Shriver addresses a group of women on behalf of her husband, Democratic presidential contender R. Sargent Shriver, in 1976. Hide Caption 16 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures John Jr., second from left, hangs out with friends in Hyannis Port in 1980. Hide Caption 17 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures Eunice is joined by her daughter Maria, right, and Maria's husband, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, at the Kennedy compound in 1981. Hide Caption 18 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures Ted Kennedy, left, and John Jr., right, join other family members for a football game in 1997. Hide Caption 19 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures The flag at the compound flies at half-staff after the death of Ted Kennedy in 2009. Hide Caption 20 of 21 Photos: The Kennedy compound, in pictures Former US Rep. Patrick Kennedy, one of Ted's sons, walks with his wife, Amy, after their wedding in Hyannis Port in 2011. Hide Caption 21 of 21

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