Robin Williams Dies of Suspected Suicide

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itmahanh

Senior Member & Antiquities Friend
#21
A horrible loss of such talent. But his life long battles with his inner demons mirrors mine. Trying to keep others laughing as a way to hide away all of me that others don't want nor need to see. I know exactly where his mind was at. I know exactly the pain he was battling. I know exactly why he did what he did. That's the true tragedy...those of us that knew him so well but never ever met the man. RIP Mr. Williams.
 

itmahanh

Senior Member & Antiquities Friend
#22
I really wanted to be the first person to create a thread dedicated to Robin Williams' death, but I was so depressed after hearing this I went into a bad episode myself. Started playing "Abraham, Martin and John" and shedding tears for a man that gave so much, but couldn't take his inner pain anymore. :Cry: :Cry: :Cry: :Cry:

I just want to say a few things:

It's really sad that such a wonderful man was hunted by so much pain and suffering. He made the rest of the world so happy and gave so much HOPE, and yet his inner experience was so dark and gloomy that he couldn't heal his own pain.

I'm really irritated with how a lot of people are tiptoeing around the whole Depression issue with him. "Apparent" suicide? C'mon now, we all know that he did it. I guess ignorant people think that suicide victims are dark and broody on the outside, snapping at people or just hiding in a corner. While the majority of us chronically and severely depressed people WANT TO hide in that corner and just die, we all have to survive and live for the sake of our families, friends and spiritual beliefs, so we can't let it show the majority of the time. Like me for example: People think I'm the sweetest, nicest person with the brightest personality because of my kindness - little do they know the daily pain and dark thoughts that have haunted me since childhood.

Hopefully with this tragedy, Depression will become more "publicized" as an ACTUAL DISEASE rather than a minor "get over it" problem. I hate to think that something like this would bring it to the media light, but if it does, then at least a little "good" will come out of this horrible, tragic occurence.

I would also like to say that I believe that right now Robin Williams is now on a quest of healing in the AfterLife (like his movie "What Dreams May Come"). Having given so much joy, happiness and being such a kind person in his life, rather then condemning him, God will help him and he will eventually feel that bliss that we lose at childhood, and will now feel it for Eternity. :angel:
This unfortunately will end the same as any other "famous" suicide. Although society has seemed to have progressed a little by not immediately trying to cover up the fact that it was a suicide. "Robin Williams found dead of apparent/suspected suicide." But like anything else in the news today...something else more prevalent will come along and Mr. Williams struggles will soon be forgotten about. Cory who?
 

BornFree

Well-Known Member
#23
Still shaken and devastated, his method a screaming declaration of his desperation and hopelessness, been hugely triggered and find myself crying and trying to hide tears from my children. Maybe its because he did what I have been longing to do, maybe its because I genuinely believed the laughter was an indication of the state of his soul. My heart breaks at the fact that he gave so much joy, laughter and hope when actually he struggled to find that for himself... the loveliest man was also one of the saddest men. My hearts biggest hope is that he is at peace now and finally finding, comfort, joy and solace in abundance. Robin Williams = A Superb being with an amazing heart!
I was blessed because he gave and for that I will be eternally grateful.
 
#24
Famous people get more coverage in a lot more of what they do. People down the road don't even get into local newspapers. Yet they could suffer the same fate and be just as "entertaining" to those around them.

To be blatantly honest (some may say disrespectful to Robin Williams but I have nothing bad to say about him - give me Mrs Doubtfire any day) - I have had my late uncle take his own life in a similar manner at the start of this year at the tender age of 47. So for me personally - while it's a sad day for the entertainment industry and everyone who did like him for what he did, it's never going to be top of my list of memories.
 

JmpMster

Owner Emeritus
#25
Another thing in common with so many other celebrity (and non-celebrity) suicides is the substance abuse issues- which he just began treatment again for substance abuse issues a month or so ago. Perhaps that is more often noticed in celebrities simply due to financial means and access - but on the timeline of 20/20 last night (Life and Death of Robin Williams that they managed to put together in 36 hours ) was very clear that substance abuse was the pre-cursor to all of his episodes of depression and other "issues". Sad that even somebody with his resources was never able to totally shake that.....
 
H

Hatshepsut

#26
Anyone remember "Mork & Mindy"?

It's gotten fashionable to blame all the suicides of notable personalities on addiction to intoxicants or on a biologically-based depression syndrome, rather than acknowledge that killing yourself is a choice. No denying that depression and substance abuse exist, both of them related to many possible consequences, including suicide. Yet the vast majority of persons who are diagnosed with depression or with a substance abuse disorder never go on to kill themselves.

The addiction/depression thesis ignores a very large group--people who are in distress simply because their bodies are aging. In our culture, everyone is expected to live to be 95, with all that time spent enjoying perfect health and vigor. It doesn't work out that way. Despite high modern life expectancies, the Social Security period life table shows that only 5% of male newborns will reach age 95, and being frail, fully a quarter of all men who are 95 today will die within the year. Many people begin to struggle with painful age-related changes in their bodies as early as their 30s or 40s.

The thing is, if you're depressed or addicted, you can do something about it. If your joints are freezing up from arthritis and the doctors and surgeons don't offer a treatment, you're screwed. Even minor things like hemorrhoids turn out as embarrassing and permanent reminders of changeover after youth ends.

If Mr. Williams had any such problems, rules for polite discourse would not allow him to reveal them, or at least any discouragement over them. Political Correctness allows disclosure of a physical problem only in a context of overcoming it. Or of "managing" it, perhaps. Oddly, the same PC wants every public figure to hang their addiction and mental health laundry out to air.

Utter silence is also commentary on the inconvenient fact that as you get older, your mom and dad and friends and relatives die. Yet you can't grieve these passings for more than two weeks before "getting over it" and "getting on with life." Of course life goes on--but the pain remains.

Still idol for youth, Mr. Williams was no longer a young man, and like for everyone else who survives to see old age coming on, he was likely finding out that it's not for sissies. May the gods bless his name.
 
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flowers

Senior Member
#27
what comes to mind above everything else, for me, is how important it is to make sure to tell our loved ones who are depressed that they are loved and we would not recover if they left. The delusion that accompanies deep depression is that people usually believe their friends and family would recover or would be better off without them. Telling people who are in the depths of depression that they are loved and we would not get over it if they left may not keep them here. But I do think its important that they hear these words. Sometimes ad nausium. Perhaps it may help. And maybe it will not help. It is important to not blame oneself for the actions of another. Suicide is not the fault of a loved one or friend. No, never.

I do not know if Alcohol and drugs are self medicating when the depression becomes unbarable. Or if it is the reverse and the alcohol and drugs bring on exasserbaton of the condition. Perhaps both are true. What I know right now is that depression has a new face. Its the face of Robin Williams. Someone who IS respected and loved by so many. What a great loss for those amongst us who so admire him. What a deep and enduring loss for his loved ones.
 
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whybother?

Well-Known Member
#29
A Statement from his wife
''Robin Williams’ wife Susan Schneider issued a statement Thursday morning, revealing that the Oscar-winning actor and comedian had been battling the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, in addition to depression and anxiety. According to the statement, Schneider says Williams was sober at the time of his suicide on Monday, Aug. 11.''
 

Autumn01

Well-Known Member
#30
So sad :(
I loved Robin Williams- he was so talented, funny and seemed like a good guy just had alot of struggles.
I know he had depression for years. So sad that he brought so many of us laughter but yet he himself was in so much pain and couldn't find joy in his own life :(

Will be sad to watch his movies now.

I can relate to the dark depression he had, I get it.
 

itmahanh

Senior Member & Antiquities Friend
#31
what comes to mind above everything else, for me, is how important it is to make sure to tell our loved ones who are depressed that they are loved and we would not recover if they left. The delusion that accompanies deep depression is that people usually believe their friends and family would recover or would be better off without them. Telling people who are in the depths of depression that they are loved and we would not get over it if they left may not keep them here. But I do think its important that they hear these words. Sometimes ad nausium. Perhaps it may help. And maybe it will not help. It is important to not blame oneself for the actions of another. Suicide is not the fault of a loved one or friend. No, never.

I do not know if Alcohol and drugs are self medicating when the depression becomes unbarable. Or if it is the reverse and the alcohol and drugs bring on exasserbaton of the condition. Perhaps both are true. What I know right now is that depression has a new face. Its the face of Robin Williams. Someone who IS respected and loved by so many. What a great loss for those amongst us who so admire him. What a deep and enduring loss for his loved ones.
Not sure if I read your post correctly. But yes, it is so true...suicide is not the fault of a loved one or friend. It is the final actions of a desperate and deeply hurt person. Their choice, not anyone else. Like the case of Mr. Williams. And just as the family and world wide fans will mourn and grieve their loss, the world and those in it, including family, will move on. Fact. It may leave a scar in the path of life of the surviving family and friends, but, their lives will go on. Don't tell me, if when you 1st heard that Robin Williams had passed, regardless of whether you heard it was a suicide or not, you didn't immediately feel the loss of a great person. So seriously, what has suicide got to do with how people react to a passing. If he had passed from old age or a different illness, the shock of the news would of been the same.
Personally, it makes me feel more suicidal when people load that guilt on my already overburdened shoulders. Understanding not guilt is what those suffering from their demons needs. Wish people including family and friends could grasp that simple concept.
Alrighty then...somewhere now lost in my mind, this made sense. Ramble. Sorry.
 
#33
A horrible loss of such talent. But his life long battles with his inner demons mirrors mine. Trying to keep others laughing as a way to hide away all of me that others don't want nor need to see. I know exactly where his mind was at. I know exactly the pain he was battling. I know exactly why he did what he did. That's the true tragedy...those of us that knew him so well but never ever met the man. RIP Mr. Williams.
This is what goes through my mind when thinking about him. He's been a favorite entertainer of mine for a long time and seemed like such a likable and noble person, very thoughtful and sincere. I don't know how noble I am but I can relate very much to how he treated others, his creative pursuits, his ability to lift others up yet at the same time quietly dealing with his solitary darkness. I feel pained about it because I think that even if I were to achieve what he has that I may still be battling my demons until my last breath and in those moments I can feel the exact pain he likely felt at the very end. In that way I feel connected and it makes me sad and despondent when I think about him.
 
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