RIP Robin Williams

[EVT1]

Depression is a terrible burden- and some people do not buy it.  The man had it all and it wasn't enough.

[Shooby]

Depression can be a terminal disease.

[Opti]

Aug 11, 2014 20:24:50 GMT -5 EVT1 said:

Depression is a terrible burden- and some people do not buy it.  The man had it all and it wasn't enough.

If the Depression went chemical into a clinical depression phase, having or not

having things has nothing to do with it. Thinking suicide is the answer then is

just as expected as women with postpartum depression feeling the urge to harm their

children. Its part of what that mix of chemicals causes one to feel.

[djAdvocate]

i am really upset by this one.  one of my favourite people. 

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

There's a growing thread on EE - as well as YMOT (if that one's not been moved yet). The EE thread is probably getting more tributes/responses paid to this comedic/dramatic genius.

His death is tragic & sad and he will be greatly missed by me. I watched "Hook" just this last weekend.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

I've read that recovering addicts struggle with depression because they got into drugs in the first place because their brains don't naturally produce enough of the mood-elevating hormones like serotonin, melatonin, dopamine, etc.  When they first take drugs like cocaine make people suffering from these deficits feel "normal" for the first time in their lives.  When they quit, become 'recovering' addicts- their depression symptoms worsen because a side effect of long term drug use is the brain's inability to produce enough of the mood elevating hormones-- so the deficit worsens.

Mental illness is one of the worst health challenges out there.  If you break your arm, or you become paralyzed, or you struggle with some other chronic illness- we know what's wrong.  We take xrays, do scans, run tests- and yep, there it is.  This is what you have.  We know precisely what's wrong, and if we can't cure it- like paralysis or chronic bronchitis, etc.- we can treat it.

When your brain is broken, it's so incredibly complex, and we know so little relatively speaking about how it works, we can scarcely know how to diagnose the problem, let alone what might effectively treat it.

Then there are the external causes of depression, and low self-esteem.  It's sad to say this, but it's nothing Mr. Williams didn't say-- which is how I know it to be true.  His parents were neglectful.  He was basically raised by his parent's maid / nanny.  He figured out at an early age that being funny and telling jokes got his mother's attention.  "I was engulfed with a "Love me" syndrome. Feeling abandoned in much of my youth. I'll make mommy laugh and it'll be okay." - Robin Williams

Later, when he was inevitably bullied- which is the common experience of kids who don't have a close bond with their parents, he used jokes to disarm the bullies- and it worked- "I started using humor in the 7th grade to stop getting the shit kicked out of me, as I was short, fat, and not fit"- Robin Williams.

The anxiety of feeling abandoned as a child, the abject terror of having the "shit kicked out of you", and basically developing humor as a defense mechanism- being a trained monkey.  I'll perform and mommy will love me.  I'll perform or else they'll kill me.  Can't be healthy.  And whatever else is going on chemically inside the brain- his life experience doesn't make it better that's for damn sure.

Then there's his marriages- and specifically, alimony.  I mean WOW.  The man had heart surgery and had to go back on the road to pay off his ex wives, or be thrown into prison.  He'd been in the process of selling everything he owned, he was working five (5) projects at 62 years of age not to survive, but because he couldn't shovel money at his ex wives fast enough to keep from having everything confiscated and being thrown into prison.  Alimony is bullshit.  Honest to God, why do we still have it?  At one time, being a wife WAS your JOB.  And if one man- your husband- didn't care for you, another man-- your sons, other men in the family, a new husband, or Johns did.  Because women didn't support themselves- couldn't, weren't expected to, and that's why traditionally we've always put widows in a special place in society.  Women are not vulnerable to death by starvation after divorcing millionaires, though.  And what is this, "in the lifestyle in which they're accustomed" bullshit?  I'm for child support.  I'm for alimony to a degree, and for a limited time.  But these women that divorce men at the top of their game and then work them like rented mules until they die? Sorry, but this cruel and barbaric practice has to end.  We personally know a woman who's been living with the same guy for 7 years, and she wouldn't marry him because she'd lose alimony.  He finally left her.  So, it doesn't just hurt the men.  It's no good for anyone.  

And yes, I'm well aware that Williams paid quite a large judgment- and he ought to have if its true- because he gave his ex wife genital herpes after having an affair with a cocktail waitress or some such story.

Anyway- he was an amazing talent, but he had a terribly tragic life.  I think the lesson for me in his life, and examining it, is that I really need to build a deeper connection to the people in my life that mean something to me, and to reach out to people I care about who need a connection, and give them one.  We all know the joker.  We all know the 'life of the party'.  The people who never really seem to quite connect with us because they feel the need to be "on" when their around people.  We enjoy their company, but we are missing the deeper connection to them as human beings.  If we are to rescue people from suicide, from drugs and alcohol, and from depression-- we need to recognize it, and we need to do our part to fill the void in their lives.