Obviously taken before his time, Robin Williams is a loss, anyone who can make you laugh is a loss and this is a loss

Robin Williams 'downsized' before death (http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/robin-williams-downsized-before-death-20140812-103al8.html)

It is made more of a loss by the disclosure that he was in difficult circumstances, I expect those who have fame and money can't deal with the transient nature of success

Yep, huge loss, the man was a comic genious. Weapons of self destruction was an absolute classic amoung so much of his other work..

It has little to do with money or success other than they are the ones who make the news. Rather, it has to do with an illness that is not recognized and/or is chastised.

It has little to do with money or success other than they are the ones who make the news. Rather, it has to do with an illness that is not recognized and/or is chastised.

Now that was deep and profound! We will miss his genius for sure.

Depression is an illness few understand

Depression is an illness few understand

Absolutely! Why? Because it is a disorder of the brain and the chemicals of the brain. The brain is the last frontier. Uncharted territory. Will it ever be mapped to include depression versus illnesses such as epilepsy?

I lost both an uncle and a father to depression. One was suicide, the other was because of the meds that caused multiple organ failure. "Get over it." "Laugh more often." Is what they were told. "snap out of it."

The funny thing is that these people, are funny, why? Because that is how they choose to hide their depression. Why? Because depression is taboo so they want the world to think they are happy while they are suffering in silence.

Robin Williams: His 50 greatest jokes | News.com.au (http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/robin-williams-his-50-greatest-jokes/story-fn907478-1227022504753)

Robin Williams- Carpe Diem - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec8FOZvcPVM)

there will always be depressed people . their HOPE is in their FAITH ,and the support of their LOVEd ones.

Tom I think a lack of hope is part of being depressed

if one can grade an actor by iconic roles ,Williams had over a dozen of them. I can't think of a scenario where his justification isn't lame.

No certainly Iconic with an ability to take the amusing to the extreme

not just comedy. his dramatic roles were 1st rate . evidently he couldn't cope with life .

I think he had deep financial problems and couldn't see a way out. Divorce will do that to you, take all the worthwhile assets and leave you with the dregs. These community property laws you have over there are ridiculous

nah , he was one of those 'genious' with a screw loose. commiting suicide where family and loved ones will find you is a cruel act against them .

commiting suicide where family and loved ones will find you is a cruel act against them .You don't understand depression apparently. There is no thought surrounding family and loved ones involved in the decision.

Who has the ability to rate posts in the Member Discussion boards?

I do but I don't use it here because this is one of the few forums we aren't supposed to do it.

Both myself and mogrann in the other thread got rated. Hmmm...

not me ... I'm not uber

Why do we have to be rated and ranked?

he was one of those 'genious' with a screw loose. commiting suicide where family and loved ones will find you is a cruel act against them .

For once I have to agree with NK.

Tom, it's very clear you don't have an understanding of the debilitating disease that depression in it's truest form is. And, having 2 family members who suffered with depression, one died of suicide and the other because of multiple organ failure due to all of the medications, I take total offense to your post.

"Screw loose?" Really? Don't you have any compassion?

It was revealed today that Parkinson's had been diagnosed. What cruelty that would be for someone like Robin Williams who used physical comedy and improv to make people laugh.

It was revealed today that Parkinson's had been diagnosed. What cruelty that would be for someone like Robin Williams who used physical comedy and improv to make people laugh.

Yes but Michael J Fox got passed it and some of William's performances could easily have been intrepretted as some one with Parkinsons
So I think he would have got by, but he might have had to loose that perfectionist streak and settle for what could be achieved on any given day

nah , he was one of those 'genious' with a screw loose. commiting suicide where family and loved ones will find you is a cruel act against them .
Apparently, there's no depression in your family. There is in mine. And I, like J, am offended by your comment.

I not only have depression in my family, but Parkinson's as well. It's very apparent none of you have experienced either of these diseases or a combination thereof.

Yes but Michael J Fox got passed it and some of William's performances could easily have been intrepretted as some one with Parkinsons
So I think he would have got by, but he might have had to loose that perfectionist streak and settle for what could be achieved on any given day
No, Michael hasn't gotten past it.

Robin Williams knew he would become a parody of himself -- hmmmmmmm, is he doing physical comedy or is it the Parkinson's? You "think" he would have gotten by and "he would have had to loose [sic] that perfectionist streak"? I doubt he would have appreciated your remarks.

Yes but Michael J Fox got passed it and some of William's performances could easily have been intrepretted as some one with Parkinsons
So I think he would have got by, but he might have had to loose that perfectionist streak and settle for what could be achieved on any given day

Past, not passed. Parkinson's isn't curable.

I suffer from depression, BPD. I have experience with suicidal thoughts and attempts.

TRIGGER WARNING FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT IN A GOOD PLACE. I will be blunt on how it feels, thoughts etc.




You can tell when the suicidal thoughts are starting. You think what about overdosing, or should it be getting hit by a train. At this point you are able to think about the pain you will cause loved ones and feel guilt. Guilt for them and guilt for yourself as you are trapped in this life with all of the pain. You don't call a crisis line as it is not a crisis. You have not plan in place on how you will do it and when. You know they will not help you at the hospital beyond telling you some lame skills you all ready know. That is if you get someone who cares and if you even get to see the mental health team. Most times they put you in the quiet room for hours( 3-6 hours) and just pop in to make sure you are still there. If you do go in there is the fear they may put a hold on you which means you lose your right to leave the hospital.

Your thoughts can slowly or quickly decline from there. Until you are in the deepest pit you can imagine. It is so deep no light is visible EXCEPT for one tiny light of a tunnel. This is death. You are in so much pain and agony you can not think of others, in fact you believe strongly you are doing them a favor by killing yourself. This is when you start the planning on how, when, where you will do it. You may have some minutes of clarity that will say you should get help. There are fears of doing this
1. Being admitted
2. Being ignored
3 Being told to smile, think of your loved ones, you are going to hell, you just want attention and don't want to be helped, you are beyond help( I was told this by a mental health professional).

You can have 1 or all of them at the same time. I have had all of them. When you are at this stage you are not thinking straight. You also learn what to tell the professionals so you will not be admitted after OD'ing. I have OD"ed more times than I was hospitalized as I learned what to say. I will be honest mental health people are not that smart at reading body language. Most are so easy to fool that you are okay and had a lapse in judgment. You are so sorry and it will not happen again. For some reason when you are at this stage being honest is so freaking hard. I normally tell the truth all the time due to my issues with black and white thinking but during these times I would lie even to close friends. It is not on purpoose and is something I can not explain.

May I say those who are calling anyone out who attempts or commits suicide how cruel and selfish YOU are. You don't get the immense pain and should be grateful. But how dare you make others suffering from depression feel more isolated and alone.

Past, not passed. Parkinson's isn't curable.

I know that, it is progressive but coping for a period is possible. Coupling it with depression would difficult and no doubt he might have had to have a less ambitious work schedule

I know that, it is progressive but coping for a period is possible. Coupling it with depression would difficult and no doubt he might have had to have a less ambitious work schedule

It's blatantly clear you don't fully understand either, and I mean no disrespect, this is actually a learning experience for many. "Coping for a period" is indeed possible, however knowing and understanding the future is depressing in and of itself. Coupling it with depression makes life debilitating. Having a less ambitious work schedule compounds the depression. Most people in this situation are actually workaholics so that they keep themselves so busy they don't have time to feel depressed or act on their ideations. It's a coping mechanism so that they do no hurt themselves or others in their lives. If he did not have such a busy life, this would have happened much earlier.

Tomder, I guess I have a screw loose, because I suffer from depression. My story and all the crap I've dealt with in my life, is on AMHD, so if you want to know why I suffer, do some research. More than what you did before posting on this thread!

My mom also suffered from depression. So did her mom (she tried to kill herself many times, my mom stopped her one of those times, and my Oma hated my mom because of it. Whenever anything went wrong after that my mom was told "It's your fault. If you had let me die I wouldn't have to deal with this" My mom left home at the age of 15 because of this).

My Uncle (mom's brother) also suffered from depression (he hung himself in the basement and left a note on his teen daughters bed saying "don't go to the basement. Just call your mom" She didn't listen and found him. To this day she's never forgiven him). 20/20 hindsight, he gave everyone around him so many signs, so many hints, and all were ignored. He finally gave up and killed himself.

So Tomder, consider yourself lucky because you don't suffer from depression. I've been on meds for over 14 years because of depression, funny thing is I didn't use them until my mom was diagnosed with cancer the second time, and then my dad died of Cancer less than 12 days after being diagnosed. Then my mom died. But I had many reasons before that to be depressed and suffer.

Most of those suffering with depressions have been through hell and back, and survived. But going to hell is something most people can't handle. Thank your lucky stars that you haven't been through hell and back. I have, and it wasn't pretty, and it wasn't fun! But how dare you minimize my pain just because you've been lucky enough to escape it?

Depression is an illness. It doesn't discriminate. It doesn't care how much money you make, or how famous you are, what you look like, how smart you are, or how funny you are! It doesn't even care if you're human. Animals suffer depression too!

Tomder, shame on you! That's all I can say. Just... shame on you!

there will always be depressed people . their HOPE is in their FAITH ,and the support of their LOVEd ones.

That's not always enough. Depression in it's truest form is painful. Not only mentally painful, but physically as well. Faith doesn't come into play because depressed people have no faith. They have no faith in themselves or in anyone else, or anyTHING else. The support of their loved ones is important, but many don't understand the depths of depression, as you showed here that you don't.

Smile they told me. Laugh I kept hearing. Look at all you have, is what I heard.

None of that is possible when you have TRUE depression. Have you? I have.

I've not related this to many people outside of my family, but since you seem to be so clueless as to how crippling this illness is, I'll give you some insight.

I have 4 children. Three of them were born and raised without a problem. After my third child, my only daughter, I suffered severe post partum depression. She was born 20 years ago. When she was about 3 months old I felt so overwhelmed, helpless, my heart was black. I remember standing in the backyard with a gun to my head. The police were called and I was talked down. I was lucky to have family who had been through depression and I got help. Help in the way of Dr. House, the real one, not a fictitious character on a TV show.

Luckily my depression was transient and related to hormonal imbalances due to pregnancy and childbirth. Such is not the case with many people. Unless and until you experience the black hole of depression, you have no right to say we "have a screw loose." You are a very cruel person using that term.

Depression is a chemical imbalance just as diabetes is an illness. It's nothing we can turn off or on. Decreasing our work schedule will only compound the depression as it gives us more time to think. We NEED to keep busy. We NEED to keep our minds working on a continual basis so as not to have down time for the depression to invade our thoughts.

And, lastly, Tomder, go to H. E. double hockeysticks for your antiquated beliefs on depression. You truly have no clue how painful it really is.

Bravo J! Wish I could rep you! Very well said, and very accurately stated.

I was a huge fan of Williams, he was equally adept at drama and comedy, he was one of a kind, few actors have his talent. Too many great movies to mention, they will continue to be enjoyed forever.

Yes ad nausium no doubt if the current TV palate is any indication