Robin Williams

My favourite actor commits suicide. I can't watch the news, or read about any details. Anyone else who liked him having issues, hearing about it? It's like triggering me or something...really disturbing me. Didn't think something like that could bother me. Maybe always having those thoughts in your own head and having someone you admire so much do it? Confused on these feelings...really scares me.

I can relate to the content of your post (not directly with regards to Robin Williams as this is covered in another thread) and I think this thread has merit for the effect that these stories have.

It's sensational news for the masses... but horribly triggering for those who are suffering from depression. These days I hardly read newspapers or watch the news due to not wanting to be triggered by such stories. In the UK recently there was a story of a celeb who topped herself which was tragic for additional reason that her mother (another celeb) had done so many years before in reaction to her boyfriend (lead singer of a famous rock band) having done the same.

What the media does not do in most cases when it covers these stories... even with unusual stories of 'normal' people... is follow up with supportive help that people who may be struggling can utilise in times of crisis.

That to me is the tragedy... the media sensationalise stories like Robin Williams but do not use it as an opportunity to educate or use such stories as an olive branch for people who are lost in the wind themselves.

I have found it very sad but I cannot say it is triggering. I think because I totally understand it. I find it scary because I assumed he was getting the best possible treatment and it still got the best of him. But maybe he was not getting treated. I don't know. My mom said she heard an old interview re aired today with Terry Gross and Robin Williams in 2006 and at that time he denied that he had clinical depression. I do know he was very open about addiction and recovery but I do not remember him talking about mental illness.

Like TJ I hope that way more awareness and education and less stigma will come out of this but I don't hold out much hope given the state of the media today. Maybe on networks like NPR or the BBC but not anywhere else.

It's triggered me. I was already in a pretty bleak/dark place before hearing of his death, but then I noticed jealousy creeping in... I am having a difficult time reading anything about it, though my newsfeed is filled with tributes. I had to stop going on social media for much of the day (I check briefly but don;t spend more than a few moments a day there today). I've actually ended up contacting crisis chats more in the past 24 hours because of this than I have in the past month.
He was my all-time favorite comedian, so the news of his passing was difficult at that level, but add in the layer of my own sui thinking and jealousy at his success, and it's been really, really difficult to hear about. I did promise my T I would be safe till our next meeting though...
Anyway, yeah, totally relate.

I agree that the media's approach to reporting on people's tragedies has gone from bad to worse. 20/20 is running a special right now, "The Life and Death of" .. isn't that in poor taste? Just 24 hours later, before any funeral or wake could possibly have occurred for his loved ones? I realize competition is steep, but I really feel there ought to be some kind of industry standards. I mean, at least wait a week, before encapsulating the significance of the man's life within the context of his death.

I really can't believe it suicide

Today my friend asked me if this affected me in any way. At first, I thought it didn't, but after doing the same thing that millions of others are doing last night - watching one of his movies - I found myself angry, weeping, vulnerable, and afraid. With all of those resources at his command yet depression still swept him up in its terrible lies? I'm so saddened by this.

Interesting...my dad is the only person I'm remotely close to that was with me in the aftermath of a suicide attempt 25 years ago. I'd often wondered what he thought or remembered about that incident...I don't talk about my feelings to anyone but not a day goes by that isn't some sort of struggle or reminder that another go is drawing nearer. The night after Williams's death I spoke to him on the phone and he didn't mention it. He even talked about Lauren Bacall's death. I finally asked him what if anything he remembered about my attempt and surprisingly he didn't really remember it at all as a single event. He recalled things around it...other episodes and crises I had been through...but not the night that I stumbled down to the kitchen at 4am while he was making coffee and told him I'd swallowed [a VERY large number of] sleeping pills and had unexpectedly woke up bloated and hallucinating and he took me to the hospital. I wish I hadn't mentioned it...he got defensive as if my question was an attack on him as a caring father. But I guess all I really hoped is that under the circumstances, he might have asked me - as your friend did - if this affected me in some way. Not because I think he owes me the consideration, but because he was really the only person in the world that could've known it did.

Like I have said before I know he was very serious and open about his addiction issues and recovery. I have yet to hear if he was being treated for depression. While there are many in AA who also suffer from depression you can get mixed messages. People have actually told me I was not sober because I took psyche meds. People think you can just work the steps and you can overcome it. Others are very supportive and understanding and encourage you to get help. I am very curious what his experience in AA was with depression and if he was being treated for it....???

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I feel similar. You are not alone. Been searching all week since his death for a site like this to be able to outlet. His death by suicide was disturbing to me. I get PTSD and it reminds me of how much I used to be afraid of myself harming myself back in the late 80's-early 90's. New here to this site so plan to be on here as much as possible to resolve these issues - and listen to yours.