RIP Robin Williams

Yeah, no kidding.

I wonder if, on some level, Williams' family either saw this coming or saw this as a possibility as what may happen. I thought about that when his publicist immediately released the information that he had been suffering from extreme depression.

That certainly doesn't mean it's any less devastating, but with one exception (and that was someone who did it as an instant reaction to what was going on) the people I know who have done (or tried to) do something similar, it wasn't a complete shock.

 

I'm beginning to see how suicide would be the way to go when you're done living.

 

I have a cousin-in-law who I firmly believe would have killed himself 20 years ago if he wasn't obsessed about the religious ramifications (Purgatory instead of Heaven) which is amazing that he thinks that way because he is one of the most miserable people you've ever met.

He's 45, lives with his parents, who are very nice people with three normal kids and one who if he left this planet would probably be missed by nobody.

 

Well, I hope they don't ask you for counseling advice.

 

His mom walked into the door of my in-laws on Christmas last year and said, "We left him at home. You're welcome." and everybody laughed.

 

You know, old_tony has a point here.

Virtually anything that has an effect on a person has some sort of physical impact on the body. That's why we have lie-detector tests. That's why we cry under certain circumstances. It is the body's response, its effort to counter-balance whatever is impacting a person.

So, just because there's a physical manifestation of something, I don't think we should necessarily call everything "a disease," as if that excuses a person, or explains why a person may have no hope.

While being impacted by depression (or any mental illness) is not totally a choice, any more than getting cancer is, I would say that healing from it is far more a choice -- yes, it many be a long, difficult, painful road, of course -- but a person gets much more of a say in the matter than they ever do with cancer.

It takes time, and it can be a process. But it can and does happen, usually once a person imposes some extent of will on the situation.

I suffered from depression at one lengthy point in my life, and I still am prone to bouts of it. I went the therapy route, though a doctor said I didn't need, and he wouldn't prescribe, drugs. It took time, and was a process, but eventually, it just...happened. My doctor said that, for the most part, that is how healing from depression occurs: The patient, to a real extent, eventually heals themselves, whether it is either with, or without, outside help.

Life just goes on, and hopefully, eventually, you realize that you can, too. It is that interim before a person reaches that point that can prove so dangerous.

Otherwise, I'd say Machine Head offers some great, salient perspectives here.

 

Since the Parkinson's news came out, I've been wondering what if that had been a misdiagnosis?

Did he get a second opinion?

Twice as bad if the diagnosis pushed him over and was wrong.

 

If you are going to respond to my post, please do so without completely misrepresenting what I wrote.

I never said mental illness was a choice. I have people I care deeply about who have been medicated due to depression. I still remember a close friend from college telling me that she often had to fight the urge to intentionally drive off the road and slam her car into a tree, particularly after her mother attempted suicide.

That said, you still have to act on that depression to die by suicide. That is not the same as cancer. I'm sorry that you can't understand that.

 

This is something I hope the family may address more fully at some point.

I expressed earlier that I didn't think a Parkinson's diagnosis, itself, would be cause for suicide, particularly while still in the early stages, when the condition, really, can be mild and not particularly impact a person's life.

That doesn't take away from the fact, however, that the drugs typically used to treat Parkinson's are among the strongest, most powerful ones available to doctors -- for anything. They are what's needed to control the condition, and I would be interested to hear news of any dosage and its possible effects on Williams, whatever point in the progression of the disease he was at.

 

They'll never address that. Why would they? He's dead. There are a lot of people who think the Parkinson's diagnosis was either used as an excuse by his wife and others who question whether he actually had Parkinson's.

Whether it's true or not, it was a brilliant move because it made him much more sympathetic after the shock of the initial suicide lessened and people started wondering aloud how he could do this to his kids.

We'll never know.

 

Ah, another media-spin conspiracy.

 

Legit question: If I've never actually tried to kill myself (and frankly, I'm too scared to do so) nullify suicidal thoughts?

Because I feel hopeless often and, quite frankly, think about it daily. But, I'm just too scared to actually do so