News Passing Of Robin Williams

[Zef]

His death is affecting me a lot, probably more than any death of people I know personally. I was really puzzled by this (I just used my trauma diary to try to figure out what the hell was going on with me.)

All I really want to say is this. I think all of us who got something meaningful from his work, should just say 'Thank You'. He earned the right to end his suffering. He made the world a better place, sometimes even a more hopeful place for those of us in pain. He wasn't able to save himself. The world was not able to save him. This world isn't for everyone, but he lasted as long and gave as much as anyone should expect of another human being.

 

[shell]

I heard this morning he was dignosed with Parkinson disease recently. Depression doesn't descriminate, beneath the public persona he was just a man, one who struggled to find self acceptance and peace. A very sad loss, after a very long struggle.

 

[.Bubbles.]

Very sad. :( I'm a fan of him. I used to watch Mrs Doubtfire on repeat as a child. He always seemed like a good man also. I'll admit I wasn't aware he had depression and addiction problems.

R.I.P Robin xxx

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I think its sad that so many sites are speculating that he *MAY* have been bipolar. This is dangerous! Doctors are far to ready to slap that "bipolar" label on people, and I have a good hunch as to why they want to smack it on him. Oh, a depressed person who is outwardly energetic and happy? HE MUST BE BIPOLAR! Ok, disagree with me if you will, but I have seen this sentiment echoed far to often by far too many professionals. If you're truly depressed, you're supposed to be depressed 24/7. Any sign of high functionality or heck, even happiness means you must be manic or hypomanic as well, and voila! we have a "bipolar" diagnosis. I have had this happen to me, and it got to the point where I feared showing ANY sign of happiness because it meant that I must be bipolar.... I have seen this happen to other people as well. It is a dangerous, dangerous thing.

We say over and over again that it isn't good to diagnose others, and I wish that other sites would stop with the speculation.

Robin was an incredible actor and an incredible comedian. He will be missed dearly.

 

[Rockstarman]

I have been so depressed since this happened. I didn't know him, but I have friends who knew him well. I feel like I shouldn't be so down about someone I didn't really know. Perhaps it's because I have friends who knew him and because I am in the entertainment business in San Francisco and I used to be a competitive cyclist and triathlete and I personally know people Robin rode with. I don't know. But I have just been devastated. He was such a genuine, kind and loving person. To be in such hell that he felt it necessary to take his own life just disturbs me so much. I am so sad for him and his family.

 

[Ladyghosthunter]

I remember reading the Bob Woodward book on Belushi and Robin Williams stated he stopped cocaine because of John's death. Apparently, the temptation of his addictions got to be too much and the world lost the funniest comedian, at least to me, in the Universe. It is said that most comedians/comediennes are clinically depressed and are suffering some kind of mental malady. Trying to be funny and trying to be joking is their only way of coping with their various illnesses, so I've read.

To me, I felt like I lost my best friend. Yes I am funny in many ways but as you all know, I have a "malady" too. It's called PTSD.

 

[Philippa]

What an awful loss. Such incredible talent. Many moons ago I handled talent (including comedians.) Gloomiest bunch you'd ever want to meet. Still, this is just -- dreadful. I don't cry at celeb passings - I cried at this one.

Most comedians are manic depressives, or just depressives. Gloomy people are usually a bit smarter than the rest of the world. They see the reality that others don't see, and I think turn to comedy acts as a way to mask their true feelings.

Depression is so socially unacceptable still...comedians find a way to be accepted and approved of by their audience, as a way to deal with their conditions. People like people who make them laugh...they don't like people who are sad.

Maybe if sadness and depression and all the darker emotions weren't so demonized by everyone, people living with depression could be sad without feeling or being rejected, but loved the way they are, so they don't have to wear a mask.

Robins death affected us all. I rarely get that affected by a celebrity passing, but I shed tears for him. I am glad that his death has opened doors to discussion about depression and suicide. This is something that has really needed to be talked about openly and the stigma reduced. Stigma is what adds to the pain of the people in this situation.

I personally don't think of people who commit suicide as being 'cowards' or 'selfish'. Often it is the persons family who display selfishness in expecting them to stick around purely for their benefit, without caring whether the person is in pain, or even trying to learn how to sit with them and be with them during their hour of need. There is nothing cowardly about facing such a terrifying point, and being completely alone with that terror.

 

[catjudo]

Often it is the persons family who display selfishness

This brings back a memory of when I made a serious attempt on my own life many years ago, when I was in my early 20's. When my mother found out I was in the hospital she rushed to my bedside then stood there yelling at me asking why I would do that to her, what she had done to deserve that, and what would people think of her because of it. Selfish kind of sums it up. The hospital staff had to make her leave.

 

[Philippa]

Yeah, tell me about it. My father bent over me crying saying "You can't...it would all be for nothing if you did." IN other words, all his hard work and investment in me (money) would be a waste. Dear ole mum didn't even believe me and thought I was faking it to get out of work. She yelled at me for wasting her time away from packing to move house, when I asked if she'd hold my hand and come into the mental health assessment place...and then told me I was lucky she didn't make me catch the bus!

 

[intothelight]

@Philippa I am so sorry to hear that your parents responded that way and for everyone else that has had the people they have turned to for understanding and support make iit all about themselves. Unfortunately society views suicide as a "selfish" act rather than a final choice made from a place of desperation and unbearable pain.

Suicide ranks in the top 10 leading causes of death for individuals over the age of
ten, yet it is never discussed. The are no "ice bucket challenges" to raise funds for research and prevention. It is treated as a dirty little secret and that alone will cost more lives.

When I was in the process of executing a suicide plan it was only by my daughter's quick thinking and respnse that I am here today. I was fortunate enough that she had chosen to be a nurse and in the course of her studies had learned about the signs of suicide.

Considering more veterans take their own life each year than were killed in combat during years of the Gulf war that had the highest combat fatalities and it is a leading cause of death among adolescents, it is not a personal issue but a public health issue. Hopefully Robin Williams death will bring the right kind of awareness.

 

[.Bubbles.]

I still think of him now and then.

I wonder if he could see how loved he was. And if it would have made a difference.

 

[ms spock]

I was simply making an observation that he presumably had no financial barriers to the best treatment available and yet still depression killed him. Despite no financial barriers, there wasn't sufficient treatment to save him. And so it makes me feel even a little more hopeless about myself and others in a similar situation finding effective treatment.

It is sobering @catjudo.