RIP Robin Williams

Well, I think you could be seeing a living appreciation of some celebrities as a result.

 

My opinion is, Lawrence was best in Winters Bone (and yes, Hawkes was awesome, more menacing than his usual dopey role). I felt like I could see the "acting" in Silver Linings Playbook, and thought she was a complete non-factor in American Hustle. That movie, to me, was dress-up day for the actors, an Actor's Studio exercise. But I have to admit, within that criticism, Christian Bale was incredible, disappearing completely into his character.

I felt Robin Williams did something similar in One-Hour Photo, which I watched last night. Forgot it was him after a while. Wish they script hadn't made him such a cliched obsessive-stalker, though -- the movies really need to stop using, or seriously underplay, the "shrine" that psychos always seem to have of their targets, full of photos and news clippings. Just out of self-preservation, you'd think they wouldn't want to make it so easy for law enforcement to figure things out and thwart them before the conclusion.

 

Mental illness isn't just some choice. It's an actual chemical imbalance in the brain that that prevents people from having rational thoughts like "I have to stay alive for my kids" because all depression is telling them is "This world would be much better without you in it." It's not a bullshit comparison. It's a disease and you can't just say "I'm too macho to die from this!" any more that cancer. I know that's hard to understand but it's a reality for people with severe depression.

 

Are you saying everyone who suffers from severe depression has no hope? Because that's what it sounds like. And if that's the case, all the awareness and help in the world will do no good. I understand you're trying to be empathetic, but there's a fine line in battling non-traditional diseases between empathy and enabling.

 

No hope? Of course not. But it's a disease. Williams needed medication, not tough love or a reminder that he was letting his kids down, as Rollins suggests.

 

Mental illness is similar to any other illness in one way: it either kills you or it doesn't.

But when any other disease kills you, you die of natural causes.

 

Rollins not being the most sensitive soul, I can see how his words may come off as harsh. But he's really just piggybacking on the "Don't kill yourself; you have plenty live for" mantra that is the foundation of treating depression.

 

I won't say Rollins is an idiot, but I'd like him to see what I've seen over the last 40 years and then see where he stands.

Any treatment plan should include therapy in addition to medication. Williams, I would hope, had such a treatment plan in place.

Ideally, the person can be stabilized through meds and then use the skills, tools and techniques that therapy teaches to manage their situation and hopefully move forward in life.

Meds are hit or miss. Some can help one person, not such much for another. Some have horrific side affects, some of which can lead to other problems. You don't know til you take the med how it affects you.

Deep Brain Stimulation is a procedure that has shown some promise, though it is in early stages. Electoconvulsive Therapy has been effective for some. Let's run some electrical current through your mellon and see what happens. These are usually later-stage options. Those who are diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression have these options.

What Rollins needs to understand is that some people see life through different glasses than he does, and it's not a conscious decision they are making in putting those glasses on.

What applies to him and how he feels about things doesn't mean everyone feels the same way, or is even capable of feeling that way.

 

I think "don't kill yourself, you have plenty to live for" is a good thing, but I think shaking your head and essentially saying "I don't understand how anyone with kids could do this" represents a real failure to understand what exactly depression does to people. It's very possible that Williams had convinced himself that after The Crazy Ones was cancelled, that he was an embarrassment to all the people around him, that he was a washed up old fool going on Letterman and doing funny voices for a few minutes. We've seen and heard over and over and over that comics often are people who feel uncomfortable in their own skin, so they make people laugh to fill a hole that's inside themselves, but also to feel at ease in almost every setting. That's the blessing the the curse of so many funny people, that deep down, they're funny because it's the only way to keep the black dogs of misery at bay. Williams hinted at it in many interviews, that the high from winning an Oscar lasted one week, and then it was "Hey Mork! Make me laugh!" He was clearly someone who longed to do important work, who could do brilliant work in both comedy and drama, but he wasn't getting those great roles offered anymore, and if you feel worthless as an artist, it's not a small leap to think that you'd start to feel worthless as a person. Throw in Parkinson's on top of that, and what kind of decade was he looking at (in his altered state of mind)? Williams could have very easily convinced himself that he was a burden to this family, that if he stayed alive, he'd deteriorate physically and he'd no longer be the wacky, fun, hilarious uncle the world knew him to be. All of that is the bitch of depression, it convinced you that getting help is just a sign you're a worthless person, a burden to others. Robin Williams clearly loved his kids dearly, but his brain was tricking him into believing everyone would be better off if he wasn't a burden anymore, today or in the future. And that's awful, because he was clearly loved. But it certainly doesn't mean he chickened out and abandoned his kids, as Rollins is suggesting.

 

I think there's room to feel terrible for Robin Williams but also feel terrible for the loved ones he left behind to deal with his final choice.

 

I've seen the collateral damage such an act causes up close.

It's heartbreaking.

 

I've seen some things flying around the Facebookverse and Twitter, attempting to be poignant and perceptive and sensitive, which have bordered on romanticization of Williams' action.

I think Rollins is trying to counterbalance that to some extent.

Of course anyone who chooses suicide has, for whatever number of reasons, moved outside of conventional rationality. This may or may not be an elective decision, but sometimes it is.

The suicidal person may believe they are taking action which will end their own pain, and by some value systems, they are. But regardless of your conception of karma or the afterlife or anything else, you are condemning anyone who cares or cared about you to years, if not a lifetime, of pain.

Some people, many people, maybe even most people in such a situation can't just 'sack up and muddle through.' But some can, and that's the group Rollins is targeting here.