The death of Robin Williams. Such a loss :(

[zabdart]

It's not unusual for great comics to be afflicted by depression. Robin Williams' hero, Jonathan Winters, was afflicted with it too. Anyway you slice it, however, this is a great loss. I have many happy memories of the laughter Robin brought to my TV screen. A true improvisational genius... once he got started, he just couldn't stop himself.

[Acousticado]

Yours is a very simplistic view. I, myself, have never experienced anything remotely close to mental illness in my 58 years, but I have witnessed it in other family members, including suicide. I'm left knowing that nobody is immune...even you. A myriad of circumstances and predisposition can take somebody down. Unless you experience deep depression, you can never know the depths of despair and irrational thinking that can envelop a person. At such times, it is not selfishness on the part of the afflicted...it is escape from what must appear to be no other way out. In Robin's case, he passed-on too young, but he lived a full life with a list of successes and honors to be admired. That should be his legacy. He gave MUCH more than he took. I don't believe he, nor others who take their own life should be considered selfish out-of-hand. You may still consider it selfish, but that that narrow view can also be considered selfish.

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by zabdart

It's not unusual for great comics to be afflicted by depression. Robin Williams' hero, Jonathan Winters, was afflicted with it too. Anyway you slice it, however, this is a great loss. I have many happy memories of the laughter Robin brought to my TV screen. A true improvisational genius... once he got started, he just couldn't stop himself.

With that excerpt of your statement, perhaps therein lies the reason for Robin taking his own life. He lived his whole life that way, and ended it the same. Still shockingly sad.

[Andromeda]

I am very saddened by the passing of Robin Williams. He was one of my favorite actors. I also want to take a moment and hopefully find something positive to come out of his death. Maybe now we can look truthfully at Mental Illness. Clinical Depression is not sadness it is a disorder of the brain. Our liver can malfunction and our hearts can attacks us and our brains, as a human fleshy organ, can also malfunction. The stigma over mental health issues needs to be thrown out. It is time we look at those who suffer from Mental Illness with the eyes of compassion and non-judgment. Mental Illness is not a flaw in character it is a function of biology.

[Scooter 42]

It's a sad thing to see some of the members posts concerning depression.
Robin Williams brought a lot of joy to so many folks. Life is precious and living it can be challenging. It's too bad Robin couldnt have gotten the help he needed. My heart goes out to those who knew and loved him. Especially his family.

[pf400]

It's hard to read the negative posts above and negative replies...I chose to ignore them all. Someone gifted has died, respect is in order eh. I remember him riding bikes with Lance Armstrong and of course coming out with funny one-liners. I remember how deeply he could express sadness in his acting roles. I pray that he did well on his judgement day and will know eternal happiness.

[Psalad]

Suicide IS a selfish act.

On the other hand, mental illness is tough and people deserve empathy who are going through it.

Life is neither neat nor tidy.

If you want to judge someone on their selfishness, by my guest. However, keep in mind whether we want to admit it or not we all have our demons, we all have our issues. I personally want to send compassion and empathy toward Williams' family rather than pointing fingers in judgement (with a just a little different situation there but for the grace of god go I).

I watched "Dead Poets Society" in his honor last night and I was almost brought to tears a couple times. Carpe diem everyone.

Live.

[callouses]

It's all so sad... He was one of the greats of all time. It has happened before, too...I'm thinking right now of Phil Hartman, and his wife in their murder/suicide several years ago. Money, fame, and talent unfortunately cannot fill your life.

[kydave]

I can't really state my feelings on that statement, but suffice it to say it was his life to take, sad as that may be.

I'd offer my condolences to his family and to the people of the world made happier by his life... He left a wonderful legacy.

[Bill Lowther]

I prefer to honor the man and his brilliance, and to mourn his loss and the loss of whatever he may have contributed during his life to make our lives a little happier. Not try to analyze or focus upon any personal demons that may have contributed to his death.
That being said, I posted the following personal thoughts about the man on another forum this morning:

I used to live and work in the town of Sonoma and was fortunate enough to have had some contact with Robin. He was a fixture around town and had one of his magnificent homes in the hills above Glen Ellen overlooking the Sonoma Valley.
Robin would pop into some of the stores in town and folks treated him like he was another friend, a local guy.. not an international star. Robin treated the townspeople the same way. He said a few times that he liked Sonoma/Glen Ellen because even when he wanted to keep to himself, he never felt the need to "hide" in town.

At a film festival at Sebastiani Theater in Sonoma several years ago, he jumped up on the stage and did what he does best. He was making some really funny jokes about Sonoma that only locals could really get. It was great. It was like we all had our own little inside jokes.

Having had a personal, albeit rare and occasional contact with Robin, it is hard to say goodbye to a great human being and an incredible inspiration. Robin truly knew how to put a smile on anyone's face by the force of his amazing personality. He never hesitated to share his heart with those who were in need and through his enormous generosity he helped many in ways none of us will never know.

Robin touched the people of Sonoma as he had done literally to thousands of people all over . . . it was an aspect of his incredible generosity of spirit.
He was a man of character. Robin always conducted himself as a gentleman, not somebody special; something that seems to elude most other stars of his caliber.
Robin was the Renaissance man of not only comedy but the giving of himself to so many others and making so many others happy.

Rest in peace, Robin. You will be missed and never replaced.

[cpmusic]

Originally Posted by Andromeda

I also want to take a moment and hopefully find something positive to come out of his death. Maybe now we can look truthfully at Mental Illness. Clinical Depression is not sadness it is a disorder of the brain. Our liver can malfunction and our hearts can attacks us and our brains, as a human fleshy organ, can also malfunction. The stigma over mental health issues needs to be thrown out. It is time we look at those who suffer from Mental Illness with the eyes of compassion and non-judgment. Mental Illness is not a flaw in character it is a function of biology.

Well said. I've had clinical depression my entire life, and knowing better, I still have some of those stigmatic thoughts when I hear about someone attempting or committing suicide.

It doesn't help that there's no distinct biological test for depression. Treatment is largely trial-and-error, and, as noted above, there is no cure. It's a matter of management, and the illness essentially feeds upon itself, making management difficult when it's most crucial.

I feel extreme sorrow for Williams' family and hope they see their way through this difficult time.

[bld522]

Originally Posted by cpmusic

It doesn't help that there's no distinct biological test for depression. Treatment is largely trial-and-error, and, as noted above, there is no cure. It's a matter of management, and the illness essentially feeds upon itself, making management difficult when it's most crucial.

No one who hasn't experienced mental illness first-hand or as a caregiver can conceive of how terrible it is. It's one thing to understand it intellectually. It's quite another to live with it or try to help a mentally ill person manage it. People who are quick to label the behavioral consequences of mental illness such as suicide as "selfish acts" simply do not know what they're talking about.

[Bill Lowther]

An excerpt from an article by Norman Vincent Peale titled "When someone takes his own life":
(Certain references to God and the Bible removed to stay within posting guidelines)

In many ways, this seems the most tragic form of death. Certainly it can entail more shock and grief for those who are left behind than any other. And often the stigma of suicide is what rests most heavily on those left behind.

Suicide is often judged to be essentially a selfish act. Perhaps it is. But we are not to judge, if we ourselves hope to escape judgment.

I think our reaction should be one of love and pity, not of condemnation. Perhaps the person was not thinking clearly in his final moments; perhaps he was so driven by emotional whirlwinds that he was incapable of thinking at all. This is terribly sad. But surely it is understandable. All of us have moments when we lost control of ourselves, flashes of temper, or irritation, of selfishness that we later regret. Each one of us, probably, has a final breaking point--or would have if our faith did not sustain us. Life puts more pressure on some of us than it does on others. Some people have more stamina than others. When I see in the paper, as I do all too often, that dark despair has rolled over some lonely soul, so much so that for him life seemed unendurable, my reaction is not one of condemnation. It is, rather, "There but for the grace of God…"

And my heart goes out to those who are left behind, because I know that they suffer terribly. Children in particular are left under a cloud of "differentness" all the more terrifying because it can never be fully explained or lifted. The immediate family of the victim is left wide open to tidal waves of guilt "What did I fail to do that I should have done? What did I do that was wrong?"

To such grieving persons I can only say, "Lift up your heads and hearts. Surely you did your best. And surely the loved one who is gone did his best, for as long as he could. Remember, now, that his battles and torments are over. Do not judge him, and do not presume to fathom the mind of God where this one of His children is concerned."

A few days ago, when a young man died by his own had, a service for him was conducted by his pastor, the Rev. Warren Stevens. What he said that day expresses, far more eloquently than I can, the message that I'm trying to convey. Here are some of his words:



"Our friend died on his own battlefield. He was killed in action fighting a civil war. He fought against adversaries that were as real to him as his casket is real to us. They were powerful adversaries. They took toll of his energies and endurance. They exhausted the last vestiges of his courage and strength. At last these adversaries overwhelmed him. And it appeared that he lost the war. But did he? I see a host of victories that he has won!
For one thing -- he has won our admiration -- because even if he lost the war, we give him credit for his bravery on the battlefield. And we give him credit for the courage and pride and hope that he used as his weapons as long as he could. We shall remember not his death, but his daily victories gained through his kindnesses and thoughtfulness, through his love for family and friends, for animals and books and music, for all things beautiful, lovely and honorable. We shall remember the many days that he was victorious over overwhelming odds. We shall remember not the years we thought he had left, but the intensity with which he lived the years he had!

[bld522]

Thanks, Bill. The only thing I would add is that there's a difference between situational depression and clinical depression. We all suffer from situational depression at some point in our lives. Few of us seriously consider suicide as a solution when those instances occur. Take a pill . . . maybe do a little therapy . . . and eventually it passes. But clinical depression is something so terrible, so dark and so painful that only those who suffer from it can truly understand what it's like from the inside. And for those poor souls, suicide can seem like the only thing that makes sense.

Mental illness cannot be bargained with nor can rational arguments prevail against it. It is one of the worst conditions anyone can suffer from. I wouldn't even wish it on my worst enemy.

[aknow]

Have you ever been in pain? He simply ended his pain, not hard to understand. Where's your empathy? Glad I'm not your kid.