A terrible shame that the depression and character flaws that make a person become an actor, entertainer and comedian are also the traits that push a person to destruction. He was a one-of-a-kind.
I was sad to hear of his death.
There are no character flaws required for suicide; just the world.
Two soldiers can serve the same tour of duty, in the same unit, walk into the same firefights side by side, suffer the same wounds, and one could come off tour mentally and emotionally unscathed while the other suffers full blown PTSD. There is no hard and fast rule as to who gets PTSD and who doesn't. Just as there is no hard and fast rule as to who can cope with depression just enough to fend of suicidal urges and who can't.
People who think Robin Williams was stupid, pathetic, selfish or cowardly for killing himself: you really think he wasn't aware that suicide inflicts horrific emotional carnage on loved ones left behind? This man who talked to the public candidly and knowledgeably about battling his demons? Who checked himself into rehab voluntarily as recent as a few weeks ago?
Instead of condemning the man, I come away thinking he must have been experiencing excruciating psychic pain if he still killed himself despite knowing how much he will hurt the people he loves.
A little compassion folks. And be thankful that no matter how little of it you have today, it will in no way affect the quality of care that you will get from the mental health profession should you someday find yourself needing their expertise and compassion.
And if you still feel like bashing Robin Williams, read this and hang your head in shame you little, little man.
That's probably because most celebrities are crap. Now with all these stupid reality TV shows, there are people who are famous for doing and achieving absolutely nothing. Is anybody really going to give a crap when somebody like that dies?
Nice to see the trolls are out already. You must be so happy sitting behind your computer, telling people they lead sad little insignificant pathetic lives. Hope that works out well for you. Obviously you can't comprehend the respect of allowing time of passing before creating a cash positive inflow to a celebrity's stock portfolio. But what should you care, capitalism and monetary gain lives on.
Oh come on. It's a store, its purpose is to sell what people want. You think there aren't perhaps millions of people out there who have searched the iTunes catalog thinking of buying his movies? I did, and I'm glad Apple made it easier for me to find them. Now if they raised their prices, or started running ads, well that's different. But they didn't so your outrage isn't justified.
To me, it's sad that as a society we seek every medical answer for physical conditions, but when someone is experiencing mental problems they are thought of as weak. I've heard the same person say they would kill their self if they had terminal cancer, but mock someone with depression for having suicidal thoughts. Mental health is just as important, if not more so, than physical health, and yet we in the developed world look at it as if it's just something you can change your mind about and be better. If someone has cancer, an autoimmune disease, or another physical ailment would advice like "just don't be such a weakling" be even remotely considered decent?
Thankfully, I have never been clinically depressed, but I don't pretend to think what Mr Williams was going through was going to be better at the snap of his fingers. I also don't look down my nose at someone's decision to end their life for whatever reason. I'm not in their shoes, or their mind, so I have no ideas of the demons that haunted him.
RIP Robin Williams, and thank you for all the entertainment. May you have found your peace.
There are no character flaws required for suicide; just the world.
Suicide is still a personal decision, no matter one's mental or physical condition. It's different from murder in that way. People may not like or understand why he did what he did, but at least it was his choice.
It's a shame that it's not even 24 hours since the news was released, and Apple is already cashing in on William's death. I'm fully convinced the entertainment industry sees it's actors worth more after death than they are alive.
I'm a fan of William's work, I own many of his movies on DVD already. I hope his legacy continues on for years of laughter with younger generations.
Oh, please..it's not a cash-in. It's a well known fact for better or worse that the death of an artist increases interest in their work and therefore, sales of their work. It doesn't matter if one is a visual artist, actor or musician. While it's true that we sometimes tend to take more of an interest when a long-term artist dies than when they're still around, it has nothing to do with capitalism or a money rip-off. It's just human nature. Such interest takes place in socialist societies as well. It happened when Michael Jackson died, it's happening for Williams and it will also happen for Lauren Bacall, who also died yesterday. It's also well known that when a visual artist dies, like a painter or sculptor, the value of their work increases radically if there was any demand for the work before the artist's death.
I really think that especially in Apple's case, no one thought, "oh let's do a page for Robin Williams because we can make a lot of money!" I think it's more about respect for his creative skills and how that fits in with Apple's supposed philosophy and imaging. While Williams was not part of the Think Different campaign, he certainly could have been.
As someone battling depression, it was a pathetic decision. And as him, not battling depression, it was a pathetic decision. <span style="line-height:1.4em;">Killing yourself is never the answer, in any circumstance, and you don’t have to have any experience with thoughts related thereto to be “allowed” to say so. Get over it.</span>
Killing yourself is never the answer. And someone thinking clearly would realize that life really can have so much to offer
Taking that one line out of context, I just want to say that sometimes killing oneself is the answer, especially with regard to painful terminal illnesses.
I think it's perfectly ok to kill oneself regardless of circumstances but to invalidate the statement of 'killing yourself is never the answer', you just need to consider if you were on fire and there was a gun nearby. Would you burn to death painfully or use the gun? Replace the fire with any number of things - bad memories, bad circumstances, illnesses that are inescapable.
People often suggest mental 'illness' is the cause of people taking their own lives or that it would only be understandable in circumstances of prolonged physical illness but some people just don't find life all that big of a deal and that it's unfulfilling. A lot of people live very unrewarding lives. Look at some of the low-level workers in China who realise that they are working solely to survive and to keep on working.
The reason that I put 'illness' in quotes there is because what would be considered a mental illness is simply regarding an unrewarding life as not worth living. If you happened to not like toffee, you wouldn't consider that an illness so why is it an illness when someone doesn't enjoy life? One reason is it's obviously unhealthy to not enjoy life but it's not something that can be treated the same way as a physical illness because it doesn't have a readily identifiable cause and cure. If someone has a painful memory of a loved one dying and that's one cause, what's the cure? To bring them back from the dead or erase their memories, neither of which are possible. The only feasible cure is to convince that person their concern is not so important.
I consider it to be more selfish for people to tell other people they should appreciate life simply because they do and force them to end their lives in such undignified ways. Robin Williams hanged himself by his belt stuck in his cupboard door. Tony Scott jumped off a bridge in front of a load of onlookers, dying from blunt force injuries and drowning. There was a guy here who drugged himself unconscious and setup a chainsaw on a timer to cut his own head off:
Regardless of what people think these people ought to have done, the fact is they wanted to die and followed it through. The idea that there is somehow a cure for unhappiness is naive. Say that a low-level Chinese worker is unhappy and they go to a counsellor, what exactly are they going to do? Give them a lot of money, a beautiful girlfriend and lots of friends? No, they give them drugs. The same kind of drugs that people get addicted to and are listed as a cause of their problems.
Drugs and alcohol are short-term solutions to the problem, they are used to escape reality. Reality is the fundamental problem, not the drugs or alcohol. Some people aren't impressed with reality and that can't be changed easily.
I've read comments about Robin Williams' death as being selfish because he meant so much to so many people. People are overlooking the definition of selfish there, which is when someone puts their own interests above the interests of someone else. Wanting someone to stay alive to entertain them I would suggest is more selfish than someone choosing not to keep living.
There are a few stories about money worries floating around, costly divorces and so on that coerced Robin Williams into taking on the following TV show:
[VIDEO]
Pretty dire looking material to work with and to make matters worse, they cancelled the show in May this year:
He could perhaps have picked up better work later on and turned things around but maybe not and maybe he didn't feel like doing that any more.
Obviously everyone is quick to sympathise after someone dies but let's say he had told people he was considering killing himself, what would the reaction have been? That he had no reason to be unhappy, much like comments made about Owen Wilson's suicide attempt (comments quoted are from other sites):
"Aww boo hoo I'm rich and famous and I've screwed Kate Hudson, I can't go on!"
"This incident is probably the funniest thing Owen Wilson has ever done."
People don't sympathise with people who ask for help, they sympathise with people after it's too late to help them and they'll still be forgotten next week.
These kind of events are going to keep happening. Everyone says to be more vigilant of people's suffering to prevent it but there's no way to do that and nobody cares enough about someone merely being sad. I think there ought to be a non-profit organisation that allows anyone to order equipment to take their own lives in a dignified and comfortable way. Veterinarians use barbiturates:
The organisation can have a network of support to help persuade the people otherwise but if the individual chooses, they should send them the equipment. It's ultimately still up to the individual whether they go through with it. I suspect that this would show up that there's a lot more suffering in the world than people would like to believe and if the support network is linked with a popular way to acquire the equipment then maybe there's more chance those people will get support first.
The reason that I put 'illness' in quotes there is because what would be considered a mental illness is simply regarding an unrewarding life as not worth living. If you happened to not like toffee, you wouldn't consider that an illness so why is it an illness when someone doesn't enjoy life?
I'm not entirely sure what you're saying here. Are you saying mental illness is not an "real" illness and that those who suffer from it should get over it?
I'm not entirely sure what you're saying here. Are you saying mental illness is not an "real" illness and that those who suffer from it should get over it?
No, I'm saying the opposite - that people can't assume it can be cured as easily as an illness.
Fortunately, for you, you have no idea what you are talking about.
Well, if I did I would probably be in the same place as he is right now. Which doesn't change my opinion in the slightest - he had a loving wife and kids; NOTHING in this world justifies taking your own life like that, particularly when so many people love, care about and depend on you.
After all, suicide is the ultimate act of selfishness and cowardice - you get away from this world without even caring about those left behind.
So please spare me from your condescending crap about depression as if it were just a "chemical imbalance" - nobody tied the rope for him; he was perfectly aware of his actions and did it himself, to the despair of his loving family. So whatever.
Taking that one line out of context, I just want to say that sometimes killing oneself is the answer, especially with regard to painful terminal illnesses. I don't want anyone denying me my rights to do with my life what I want and no one should be forced to do something against their will.
Comments
Now Apple has done essentially the same thing. I thought Tim Cook's Apple had more sensitivity than this.
"Reality. What a concept."
-- [I]Robin Williams[/I]
Where the heck is Good Will Hunting in the dedication page???
The very first movie in the list, under Essential choices.
I was sad to hear of his death.
There are no character flaws required for suicide; just the world.
People who think Robin Williams was stupid, pathetic, selfish or cowardly for killing himself: you really think he wasn't aware that suicide inflicts horrific emotional carnage on loved ones left behind? This man who talked to the public candidly and knowledgeably about battling his demons? Who checked himself into rehab voluntarily as recent as a few weeks ago?
Instead of condemning the man, I come away thinking he must have been experiencing excruciating psychic pain if he still killed himself despite knowing how much he will hurt the people he loves.
A little compassion folks. And be thankful that no matter how little of it you have today, it will in no way affect the quality of care that you will get from the mental health profession should you someday find yourself needing their expertise and compassion.
And if you still feel like bashing Robin Williams, read this and hang your head in shame you little, little man.
http://m.tickld.com/x/robin-williams-may-have-had-his-problems-but-this-is-amazing
That's probably because most celebrities are crap. Now with all these stupid reality TV shows, there are people who are famous for doing and achieving absolutely nothing. Is anybody really going to give a crap when somebody like that dies?
Probably friends & family.
Oh come on. It's a store, its purpose is to sell what people want. You think there aren't perhaps millions of people out there who have searched the iTunes catalog thinking of buying his movies? I did, and I'm glad Apple made it easier for me to find them. Now if they raised their prices, or started running ads, well that's different. But they didn't so your outrage isn't justified.
To me, it's sad that as a society we seek every medical answer for physical conditions, but when someone is experiencing mental problems they are thought of as weak. I've heard the same person say they would kill their self if they had terminal cancer, but mock someone with depression for having suicidal thoughts. Mental health is just as important, if not more so, than physical health, and yet we in the developed world look at it as if it's just something you can change your mind about and be better. If someone has cancer, an autoimmune disease, or another physical ailment would advice like "just don't be such a weakling" be even remotely considered decent?
Thankfully, I have never been clinically depressed, but I don't pretend to think what Mr Williams was going through was going to be better at the snap of his fingers. I also don't look down my nose at someone's decision to end their life for whatever reason. I'm not in their shoes, or their mind, so I have no ideas of the demons that haunted him.
RIP Robin Williams, and thank you for all the entertainment. May you have found your peace.
http://caosvideo.com/v/remembering-robin-williams-august-11-2014-298
Fortunately, it's none of your business.
Suicide is still a personal decision, no matter one's mental or physical condition. It's different from murder in that way. People may not like or understand why he did what he did, but at least it was his choice.
It's a shame that it's not even 24 hours since the news was released, and Apple is already cashing in on William's death. I'm fully convinced the entertainment industry sees it's actors worth more after death than they are alive.
I'm a fan of William's work, I own many of his movies on DVD already. I hope his legacy continues on for years of laughter with younger generations.
Oh, please..it's not a cash-in. It's a well known fact for better or worse that the death of an artist increases interest in their work and therefore, sales of their work. It doesn't matter if one is a visual artist, actor or musician. While it's true that we sometimes tend to take more of an interest when a long-term artist dies than when they're still around, it has nothing to do with capitalism or a money rip-off. It's just human nature. Such interest takes place in socialist societies as well. It happened when Michael Jackson died, it's happening for Williams and it will also happen for Lauren Bacall, who also died yesterday. It's also well known that when a visual artist dies, like a painter or sculptor, the value of their work increases radically if there was any demand for the work before the artist's death.
I really think that especially in Apple's case, no one thought, "oh let's do a page for Robin Williams because we can make a lot of money!" I think it's more about respect for his creative skills and how that fits in with Apple's supposed philosophy and imaging. While Williams was not part of the Think Different campaign, he certainly could have been.
I think it's perfectly ok to kill oneself regardless of circumstances but to invalidate the statement of 'killing yourself is never the answer', you just need to consider if you were on fire and there was a gun nearby. Would you burn to death painfully or use the gun? Replace the fire with any number of things - bad memories, bad circumstances, illnesses that are inescapable.
People often suggest mental 'illness' is the cause of people taking their own lives or that it would only be understandable in circumstances of prolonged physical illness but some people just don't find life all that big of a deal and that it's unfulfilling. A lot of people live very unrewarding lives. Look at some of the low-level workers in China who realise that they are working solely to survive and to keep on working.
The reason that I put 'illness' in quotes there is because what would be considered a mental illness is simply regarding an unrewarding life as not worth living. If you happened to not like toffee, you wouldn't consider that an illness so why is it an illness when someone doesn't enjoy life? One reason is it's obviously unhealthy to not enjoy life but it's not something that can be treated the same way as a physical illness because it doesn't have a readily identifiable cause and cure. If someone has a painful memory of a loved one dying and that's one cause, what's the cure? To bring them back from the dead or erase their memories, neither of which are possible. The only feasible cure is to convince that person their concern is not so important.
I consider it to be more selfish for people to tell other people they should appreciate life simply because they do and force them to end their lives in such undignified ways. Robin Williams hanged himself by his belt stuck in his cupboard door. Tony Scott jumped off a bridge in front of a load of onlookers, dying from blunt force injuries and drowning. There was a guy here who drugged himself unconscious and setup a chainsaw on a timer to cut his own head off:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/inquest-told-man-cuts-off-own-head-with-chainsaw/story-e6frev00-1111118092945
Regardless of what people think these people ought to have done, the fact is they wanted to die and followed it through. The idea that there is somehow a cure for unhappiness is naive. Say that a low-level Chinese worker is unhappy and they go to a counsellor, what exactly are they going to do? Give them a lot of money, a beautiful girlfriend and lots of friends? No, they give them drugs. The same kind of drugs that people get addicted to and are listed as a cause of their problems.
Drugs and alcohol are short-term solutions to the problem, they are used to escape reality. Reality is the fundamental problem, not the drugs or alcohol. Some people aren't impressed with reality and that can't be changed easily.
I've read comments about Robin Williams' death as being selfish because he meant so much to so many people. People are overlooking the definition of selfish there, which is when someone puts their own interests above the interests of someone else. Wanting someone to stay alive to entertain them I would suggest is more selfish than someone choosing not to keep living.
There are a few stories about money worries floating around, costly divorces and so on that coerced Robin Williams into taking on the following TV show:
[VIDEO]
Pretty dire looking material to work with and to make matters worse, they cancelled the show in May this year:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-cbs-cancels-robin-williams-comedy-the-crazy-ones-20140510-story.html
He could perhaps have picked up better work later on and turned things around but maybe not and maybe he didn't feel like doing that any more.
Obviously everyone is quick to sympathise after someone dies but let's say he had told people he was considering killing himself, what would the reaction have been? That he had no reason to be unhappy, much like comments made about Owen Wilson's suicide attempt (comments quoted are from other sites):
http://jezebel.com/5770385/why-arent-we-talking-about-owen-wilsons-suicide-attempt
"Aww boo hoo I'm rich and famous and I've screwed Kate Hudson, I can't go on!"
"This incident is probably the funniest thing Owen Wilson has ever done."
People don't sympathise with people who ask for help, they sympathise with people after it's too late to help them and they'll still be forgotten next week.
These kind of events are going to keep happening. Everyone says to be more vigilant of people's suffering to prevent it but there's no way to do that and nobody cares enough about someone merely being sad. I think there ought to be a non-profit organisation that allows anyone to order equipment to take their own lives in a dignified and comfortable way. Veterinarians use barbiturates:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4310596.stm
The organisation can have a network of support to help persuade the people otherwise but if the individual chooses, they should send them the equipment. It's ultimately still up to the individual whether they go through with it. I suspect that this would show up that there's a lot more suffering in the world than people would like to believe and if the support network is linked with a popular way to acquire the equipment then maybe there's more chance those people will get support first.
I would stop, drop, and roll; don’t you remember elementary school?
I'm not entirely sure what you're saying here. Are you saying mental illness is not an "real" illness and that those who suffer from it should get over it?
You're trapped in a burning building though so rolling means rolling in more fire. You'd have to choose the gun.
No, I'm saying the opposite - that people can't assume it can be cured as easily as an illness.
Ok. Whew, good thing I got a clarification. My apologies.
Fortunately, for you, you have no idea what you are talking about.
Well, if I did I would probably be in the same place as he is right now. Which doesn't change my opinion in the slightest - he had a loving wife and kids; NOTHING in this world justifies taking your own life like that, particularly when so many people love, care about and depend on you.
After all, suicide is the ultimate act of selfishness and cowardice - you get away from this world without even caring about those left behind.
So please spare me from your condescending crap about depression as if it were just a "chemical imbalance" - nobody tied the rope for him; he was perfectly aware of his actions and did it himself, to the despair of his loving family. So whatever.
Or leaving the building.
Anyway, it is not “perfectly okay” to kill yourself, regardless of the situation.
It may be the answer, but it's the wrong answer.