Robin Williams Sucide

and the fact that the police MAY be called is why some people will never turn to a hotline.

But sometimes your current problems are not temporary, the mood feelings motivations don't always change or go away . For example I have been unemployed and on esa benefit I have tried to get jobs but nothing has happened in relation to getting work. I try hard to apply for jobs, I will do hours on my mac to get interviews really pull those all nighters if I need to and then work all day pull another all nighter and so on to apply for jobs. I will work my body till it's practically dead to get a job and when I have got a job I work my body to the edge. I have no switch off. Even I catch my self doing recreational stuff I do hurt myself on the head scratch my arm.

I hope I don't come off as insensitive, but this has really been bothering me. I listened to many of his comedy skits last night and I noticed that a lot of his material is about being so drunk you don't know what you are doing. I'm wondering if he draws this from his own experiences and alcohol just got the better of him that night.

Could he have been so drunk he basically blacked out and didn't KNOW what he was doing??? I wonder if the toxicology report will be released, if indeed this is the case.

I have never had so much to drink that I have blacked out...has anyone here? I just don't know what to think and I am so saddened by this event. I'm no stranger to the mindset of self destruction and the stigma that is attached to it. RIP Robin, I so pray for that for you.

Deeply sad, just goes to show that even if you have lots of money and appear happy on the outside it doesn't mean eveything is ok on the inside. I am hoping people like my ex friend sees that it is a widespread issue and that it can happen to ANYONE and needs to be talked about and not looked down upon or judged.

Very good post.

For some reason I think of the commercial he did for the Zelda video game where we found out that he named his daughter after a video game character. It was an insight into his family life that you normally don't see and it showed him as a great father who cared about his children. I can only imagine they must be feeling abandoned right now.

Very interesting insight....and I agree with you.

I have had times where I have drank too much and next morning don't remember a lot of that night....but I think suicide by that method would be hard to do in that state since if you're black out drunk your probably going to be falling over yourself, slurring words...I think to die like that cause of death would be more along the lines of head trauma from a fall, alcohol poisoning or something with a sharp object but I feel like the method he went by would take too much coordination to do while black out drunk.

So in my honest opinion I really doubt it was a case of....getting too drunk or anything like that I am thinking he was in pain for quite some time and felt like he couldn't take it anymore...but sadly the media will probably love to jump on the possibility that he was fine over all aside from 'drug problems' and that this is in fact the result of getting too drunk...but perhaps they'll find out he wasn't drinking or doing anything else at or near the time it happenened, and if he was it was probably to try to get the guts to 'just do it' because yes the fear factor does kick in when one attempts suicide.

ROBIN WILLIAMS
...a wake-up call for mental illness

Part 1:

News of the death of Robin Williams on 12/8/'14 stunned fans young and old. Comedians, actors, directors, many of the rich and famous who had been influenced by Williams paid their tributes. So, too, have millions of others now on social media in the first 48 hours since the first news of his suicide. Williams made his TV debut in the late 1970s TV comedy Mork & Mindy as a strange and lovable creature from outer space. At the time I had an 80 hour week with job responsibilities as a lecturer at what is now the University of Ballarat, and community responsibilities as the secretary of the local Baha'i community. I watched little TV in those years.

Williams had been open about his struggles with alcohol and cocaine and in the past months had entered a rehabilitation centre to help him maintain sobriety. But many questions remain over his final months and what could have led to his death. This post attempts to answer some of the questions that will arise. On the Hollywood Walk of Fame, dozens of fans congregated around Williams' star on Tuesday, 12/8/'14, leaving flowers and candles to honour the versatile actor. Williams' appeal stretched across generations and genres, from family fare as the voice of Disney's blue genie in Aladdin to his portrayal of a fatherly therapist in the 1997 drama Good Will Hunting. Williams won the best supporting actor Oscar in 1998 for that portrayal.

The 1998 movie, Patch Adams, in which Williams plays a medical student who battled convention to treat his patients using laughter, earned him a Golden Globe nomination. Some of the most humorous and touching scenes of Williams' from his favourite roles to his recipe for success can be found now in cyberspace. In 1998 I was just about to retire after a 50 year student-and-paid-employment-life, 1949 to 1999, and did not learn of the film until several years after I had taken a sea-change and an early retirement at age 55. In recent years I have watched more TV, at least two hours a day on average and have seen much of Robin Williams.

Part 2:

Williams' career was launched in 1973 when he became one of only 20 students accepted into the freshman class at Juilliard and one of only two students accepted into the Advanced Program at the school that year; the other was Christopher Reeve. The Juilliard School is widely regarded as one of the world's leading music schools, with some of the most prestigious arts programs. In 1973 my teaching career had just begun to take-off when I was teaching in South Australia's first open plan secondary school. That same year I was hired to teach in Australia's first human relations training program for trainee teachers at the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education. Of course, I knew nothing of Williams back then and neither did the millions and billions who would come to know him in the next 40 years.

Williams said that the favourite role which he played was Oliver Sachs in Awakenings. He said that he saw the role as a gift because he got to meet Sachs, and got to explore the human brain from the inside out. "Oliver writes about human behaviour subjectively," said Williams, "and that for me was the beginning of my fascination with human behaviour." "In his stand-up specials and chat-show appearances," wrote a reviewer yesterday in The Economist, "he never seemed hold anything back. Dripping with sweat, pouring out words in torrents, he seemed to have no filters between his buzzing brain and the outside world. He could be endearingly open and honest about his own problems, his addiction to alcohol and cocaine, even while improvising delirious flights of fancy and flitting from character to character. Viewers loved him for it. Mr Williams had a versatility that few comedy superstars have matched."1

Part 3:

In June 2014 Williams spent time in the Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center in Minnesota, which helps patients maintain long-term sobriety. The death of Williams shook Hollywood, and colleagues mourned the loss of what many called a big-hearted man and one of the most inventive comedians of his time. "Robin Williams' suicide doesn't cross the line, but it comes very, very close to it," said Christine Moutier, chief medical officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention(AFSP). "Suicide should never be presented as an option. That's a formula for potential contagion. Adolescents are most at risk of suicide contagion; in recent years, groups like AFSP have also become particularly attentive to the role the internet plays in romanticising notorious or high-profile deaths, something it has long asked both the news and entertainment industries to avoid.

One family acquaintance was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as follows: "Williams always had this sadness about him, this melancholy.” He had never been diagnosed with clinical depression or bipolar disorder which is not to say he did not suffer from the ravages of these mental health issues. He had the money to afford the best treatment, but the sad truth is that, in some cases, even the best isn’t enough to save people." Mental health is a highly complex subject. I know a little about the subject having had to deal with depression and bipolar 1 disorder for over 70 years.

Part 4:

According to government statistics compiled in 2010, 60 percent of Americans with mental illness got no treatment within the previous year. People reported a variety of reasons—they couldn't pay for it, they thought they'd be fine, they didn't want others to learn about it. Even if that 60 percent figure is exaggerated, and even if conditions have improved, the problems are still widespread. And they are obviously not confined to the USA.

Although we’re accustomed to hearing about artists and their hidden "demons," Williams was such an effervescent, joyous presence that his struggles could put into sharper relief just how life-altering and devastating mental illness can be. They also put into sharp relief the seductive and insinuating quotient that is mental illness and, more so, when addictions and the frenzy of renown, celebrity, are mixed-into the equation. If he couldn't conquer it on his own, who could? The lesson would be, could be, one last, great contribution from an artist who has made so many contributions already.

"A quarter of the population suffers from mental health issues that could potentially drive suicidal thoughts," Moutier said. "This is a very important issue, from a public health standpoint, and one we need to bring to light."2-Ron Price with thanks to 1 The Economist, 12/8/'14, and 2The Washington Post, 13/8/'14.

Part 5:

It is my understanding
from what I have read
about you, Robin, that
you never received the
diagnosis....depression
and bipolar disorder..I
can hardly believe this!

Your addictions and your
health problems certainly
seem to indicate at least a
variety of bipolarity that is
known as cyclothymia, and
depression. I look forward
in the weeks ahead to reading
some of the analyses of what
the mental health issues that
you faced. Your death gives
society a wake-up call to deal
with mental health problems,
alcohol & the many addictions.

Ron Price
13/8/'14.

This really means something to those who struggle with some kind of MI and have family/people around them and yet feel more alone than when actually alone.

The thing about comedy that people don't understand is that often it is used as a way to gain control over a deep despair or hidden injury. Comedians actually are at a higher risk of committing suicide.

What is interesting is this is what Robin Williams was talking about in Patch Adams where his charector was suicidal and turned that around into finding ways to make people happy.

The other thing that people do not realize is that when someone uses drugs to enhance the production of dopamine, it actually takes away from the natural way of producing dopamine, plus it requires more and more of said drug to get that desired dopamine high.

Robin Williams grew up in a time where much of what we understand now was simply not known. We are at a point now where we are now learning so much more about the brain and "why" certain challenges take place. There are ground breaking discoveries taking place all the time now and hopefully this sad loss will inspire those of financial privilage to donate even more towards the efforts to research and not only learn more but to develop better treatments that can really provide relief.

So, keep the hope, something better may be just over the horizon.

OE

Very moving and meaningful contributions. I have now re-watched two films that both have suicide as a crucial issue. At first it felt eerie to see him act in relation to another's suffering and suicide. But something struck me. From these films and from what I know about suicide, it is very likely that this was not a unique and mysterious event. Without knowing details, it is still quite likely that Williams had thought about suicide at other points in his life. Certainly in these two films suicide is a direct issue that he confronts. In the film where he is already dead and then his wife kills herself, he struggles to find her, rescue her, bring her back from a hell-like place to his more colorful heaven so they can be together and she is out of pain and not alone. During an important dialogue he tells her at a hospital where she is recovering from depression and probably a suicide attempt not to give up. Later they revisit that moment and he says quite frankly and astonishingly that saying don't give up was his defense and way to hide and avoid his and her pain. Perhaps there was a "don't give up" mandate that he finally had to admit was not working as a strategy to avoid pain and the quite likely discrepancy between what was external and what he felt inside. The rift and feeling of inauthenticity plus other pressures such as living up to huge expectations, growing older with divorces and probable relational problems, losing starring roles, realizing that you are more vulnerable than you previous thought so you can't fight off depression or maintain sobriety. Without knowing anything really about the private life of this man, it isn't too hard to see how this could happen. Suicide tends to follow a surprisingly similar pattern among very different people. Feeling trapped with no options, feeling alone, feeling huge loss and no way to overcome them or deal, plus more personal issues and fears lead people of all stripes to consider this option. In some accounts of suicide, it is thought that the person is trying to end pain so is actually trying a self-protective strategy that contradicts itself because it means that the self dies to kill off the pain in the ego. But for people who have either had bouts with this struggle or suddenly find themselves feeling that there are no options for them, it is not totally mysterious that this is a form of relief that they ultimately turn to. We actually don't know and probably won't ever find out what exactly was going on in Robin William's life and mind to push him over to actually completing a suicide attempt. Still I don't think that is really our business or what can be taken from this highly public occurrence of what happens so frequently for so many people, whether contemplations, attempts, or completions, it is an all too common and deeply sad problem that can be addressed and needs to be brought into daylight so that more is done to help the huge number of people who also live in this hellish world.

I do understand where He might have been that night.. Especially if he was untreated for his Depression/BiPolar whatever. He didn't need to be drunk. I have struggled for 18 yrs that I know of. I am 58 now. I stopped drinking and went into a severe depression that never completely abated. Some meds worked for a while, then I tried others - rapid cycling etc. Then CPTSD & memories came. All the while tho - I have fought this pain..knowing deep inside (without an attempt or plan) that eventually if it kept up and I felt that I could not improve or work at improving anymore.. that is how my life will end. My PDoc is aware & I go in and out of it. I keep working on myself. I am sure that is what Robin did. I tho became unable to keep up my Type A workaholic mask and isolate until I have a good day. I suspect he did too. I met him a few times.Nice sincere man. Humble too. Pain is pain & we do our best.

This news is very shocking someone who had it all just couldn't be happy inside. What does that say for everyone else.

While his death is both very shocking and incredibly sad i think some of the posts i've seen elsewhere are pretty inappropriate. His own daughter has now been forced off of social media due to the abject indecency of others. We'll never know why he did it...maybe like Hemingway he'd had enough and wanted to end things on his own terms. I just think of his children though...his daughter is only two years older than me and if there's ever a worse time to lose a parent it's at this age.

Yeah I heard about that, and was disgusted....I just don't see why people would want to go and be rude to her over social media about any of this, just disgusts me. I mean its bad enough what happened without people going and being jerks on social media about it.

The day I was "discharged" from the place that was supposed to help me, I came home to find out the sad news about Robin Williams. Very tragic. He's a great actor who makes me laugh. Although I do not suffer from bipolar disorder, I can relate to this man a lot. I suffer from severe depression and anxiety as well as a long history of substance abuse (cocaine mostly) and an eating disorder.

It sounds like things were too painful for him to continue. I know the feeling sadly enough, but I just don't have the guts to do anything like what he did.

I'm not suicidal but I have been in the past.

Just remember, that each day is a gift and try to do something to help yourself or another living being to make your "dash" count!

Well, the unfortunate reality is that many of the people making inappropriate comments are themselves mentally disturbed. It's harder to have compassion for mental illness when it turns ugly. Or evil.

Ok do you have proof of that? I mean I certainly wouldn't know if any of them have a mental illness or not...but to assume mental illness is what contributes to people behaving that way, or thinking people should lack compassion for the mentally ill if a few mentally ill people are jerks or worse seems a little extreme. I am sure many of those people aren't mentally disturbed and just see a target to pick on. I garante when I experienced bullying in public school there where plenty of non-mentally ill people taking part.

Lots of non-mentally ill people behave like jerks to or do cruel things to other poeple....so I am not entirely sure what your point is. Should I have less compassion for someone who's not mentally ill if they are struggling with a bad situation because some non-mentally ill people are jerks or even sadistic? Also not sure what good it would do to focus on the fact some people doing the harrassment might be mentally ill maybe the focus should be on that sort of harrasment is really messed up no matter who's doing it...rather then trying to point fingers at mentally ill people in general over it.

The wife of Robin Williams has just advised that Robin Williams was in the early stages of Parkinson's Disease.

It doesn't say anything. Depression doesn't discriminate, and it isn't based on personal circumstances.

I thought Jimmy Fallon's tribute was cringe-worthy.

Conan O'Brien did a very nice one. Told a great story, showed some clips, nice and understated, but also touching.



I noticed in this clip that Conan called Robin the best talk show guest in the world even before his death, so he is not just eulogising him when he says that.

Whoa dude. Take a breath. I was just making an off-handed comment, thinking about a particular post I read on a local news site and the poster was connecting Robin Williams with evil aliens...the post sounded mentally imbalanced and really didn't make sense. I immediately found myself angry with the poster - then it occurred to me that hey, that person deserves my compassion, too...it was pretty clear that the person was battling with some serious paranoia. But it's harder for me to find that compassion when the person says something I don't feel good about. Please understand: I'm not suggesting anything about what you should do. I was sharing my experience. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

It makes me, feel weird, that my prior therapists used him as a prime example of a survivor of mental illness back then. I mean they can't predict things like this, but how my therapists viewed mental illness. They have been very neglectful and that man is a good man he lived life the best of his abilities. I commend him for that and that would the only reason I was compared to him I'll accept. He is no coward and no failure, loss is loss. He and I have been there. No one should be in his shoes, and I think the beauty the air is changing, he has shown an obvious and strange light that mental illness in a normal damaging painful setting for everyone who has experienced this, but very real in the sense. Anyone can relate, he's shown that it's a wake up call to really give everyone a hard look on mental illness. He was fighting this a lone like a lot of us including myself on many mental illnesses. I am one and the same, so I only feel empathy and I love him more as a human, because he only wanted people to smile. This is sad, damn sad especially for me. My heart sank, it's like losing a loved one. I never handled death well ever, but I have to say he's made me smile more than his comedy, his smiles and his way of life reminds me how I like to make the smallest and hardest parts of life comfortable. You have my all my condolences and respects.

I been watching his movies and they're as good as the way he acts. He'll be miss by everyone.

As it turns out, he was also battling the beginning of Parkinson's.