Robin Williams dies at 63 of apparent suicide - August 11th, 2014

[Doc Holliday]

substance abuse is certainly correlated with an increase in mood disorders, although it's the "chicken or the egg" dilemna; it's difficult to say which comes first. That being said, a lot of people with bipolar disorder will abuse cocaine and alcohol to regulate their mood, as a form of self-medication. I would not be surprised if in the end we were to learn that in fact Williams was suffering from bipolar disorder... Which is a genetically, neurobiologically determined condition, for most of it, much more than unipolar depression.

I agree that addiction could have led to his psychological disorders. But i consider addiction to also be hereditary in some way. I've learned that an addict is literally born an addict. Its a gene inherited at birth. Same thing with bipolar disorder. Various hereditary factors can often (and usually) lead to more serious problems such as the ones listed.

p.s. I'm not a psychologist per say, but i have a university degree in Psychology. I've also discussed my theories with other psychologists and they agree with mine. Of course, i have no doubt other 'shrinks' as you put it would totally disagree with theories others agree with.

 

[man77777]

Really sad... This guy was a legend.. And "Angel" was one of my favorite song...

More seriously, I wasn't a big fan of his humour.


As for the heredity of addiction Doc, My opinion is that it's not the addiction itself that is hereditary, but the psychological weakness that lead to become addicted to something.

 

[gurgeh85]

De mortuis nil nisi bonum, but...

As much as I enjoyed watching him, particularly his performance in Good Will Hunting, he was notorious for having built his career by stealing material from other comedians...

http://www.kempa.com/robin-williams-prince-of-thieves/

Here's an example if you don't believe it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJOXnktWbTM

 

[Doc Holliday]

it's not the addiction itself that is hereditary, but the psychological weakness that lead to become addicted to something.

True. And psychological weakness is also hereditary.

 

[Madmanacross]

Disagree.
Psychological strength comes from things you occur throughout your life and shape you over time.
In my opinion depression does not mean you are not psychological weak.

People don't know how much they can handle until they are put in situations where they have no choice but to be strong.

Life experiences shape your personality, you are right, but we are all born with certain genetic predispositions that will also contribute to our psychological development. It's all relative, though; I have seen patients who were raised by parents with substance abuse disorders and they became relatively healthy adults with no addictions; they certainly had some of the genes that contributed to their parent's addiction problems, but managed to define their life's choices differently. Psychological characteristics are determined by multiple factors; it is simplistic to just say "this is genetic" or "this is due to the way you were raised". Things are much, much more complex than that.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Looks like we'll be hearing about Robin Williams's death & various stories about depression on CNN for the next month or so. Until they find that missing plane, that is.....

 

[Merlot]

Gents,

You put a former junkie who took the easy route by taking his own life on a list with those giants??? Really???

Doc, as usual you never fail to get ugly in a memorial thread. That's our Doc. You are also badly informed and forgetful. Hendrix died of "drug-and-alcohol-related asphyxiation", and did heroin in particular, not to mention LSD, hashish and more. Mozart is believed to have been bi-polar with possible personality disorder and described severe bouts of depression in his letters which he dealt with by using alcohol like absinthe, notable for it's special potency and effects. Beethoven "used large amounts of drugs obtained from his brother Johann, a pharmacist." Lincoln suffered from harsh periods of depression/melancholy and took large amounts of a drug called a "mass blue pill" that contained mercury to deal with some medical conditions. Washington drank excessively on many occasions.

What does any of that matter against what they accomplished and gave to humanity???

Really, what was the point of being so mean-spirited...as usual. Totally lacking perspective? Empathy? Or just being Doc? Your usual habit of beating up on dead people mr. hero.

Williams was a true GIANT, not only as a comedic actor or in the whole entertainment industry, but as a person of the world. What other person has ever made so many people feel happiness. Look among the names I previously cited and wonder if any of them ever did more.

Cheers,

Merlot

 

[Madmanacross]

Je crois effectivement qu'on oublie l'essentiel ici; nous sommes tous des êtres imparfaits et incomplets. C'était le cas de Robin Willaims aussi, mais c'était surtout l'être des extrêmes, le clown triste qui nous a présenté la lumière et s'est gardé pour lui le côté sombre. May he rest in peace, he was a great man.

 

[daydreamer41]

True. And psychological weakness is also hereditary.

Manic depression, what Williams supposedly had, is a bio-chemical disorder in the brain. It can run in families. A bi-polar person has little control over his or her illness other than to be treated by a psychiatrist via drug treatment, psychotherapy, which basically is monitoring the effects of the prescribed drugs. Many bi-polar persons are not diagnosed or ignore treatment.

I don't know why you use the term weakness in your sentence.

 

[Madmanacross]

You are right daydreamer, bipolar disorder (manic depression) is deeply rooted in the neurobiology of those suffering from it, and it runs in families. It can not be cured. You're stuck with it for all of your life and medication is essential if you want to stay stable. It is not a weakness, but rather a condition.

People with bipolar disorder can become very creative and productive when they're "high" (manic). Macy Gray, Pierre Péladeau, Sinead O'Connor, Axl Rose, Ted Tuner are good exemples and there's tons of others. Would you call them weak ? Not me... But, yes, there is a dark side to this disorder and it can destroy you.

 

[Roadtripr]

Touching tribute to Robin Williams delivered by Billy Crystal at last night's Emmy Awards.

https://tv.yahoo.com/blogs/tv-news/emmys-billy-crystal-robin-williams-025033504.html

Funny quote from Robin Williams in this videos clip that you guys can relate to. "God gives you a penis and a brain... And only enough blood to run one at a time."

 

[Doc Holliday]

I don't know why you use the term weakness in your sentence.

Weak for taking the easiest way out by killing himself instead of manning up & dealing with his problems.

 

[Doc Holliday]

You are right daydreamer, bipolar disorder (manic depression) is deeply rooted in the neurobiology of those suffering from it, and it runs in families. It can not be cured. You're stuck with it for all of your life and medication is essential if you want to stay stable. It is not a weakness, but rather a condition.

People with bipolar disorder can become very creative and productive when they're "high" (manic). Macy Gray, Pierre Péladeau, Sinead O'Connor, Axl Rose, Ted Tuner are good exemples and there's tons of others. Would you call them weak ? Not me... But, yes, there is a dark side to this disorder and it can destroy you.

True. But many drug addicts also develop bipolar disorder due to excessive drug use. Williams snorted a lot of blow early on & was an alcoholic. Had he not been weak and taken care of himself better earlier on, he may have been able to avoid depression and may not have taken the easy way out in endind his life.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Totally agree 110%!

Weak for taking the easiest way out by killing himself instead of manning up & dealing with his problems.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Really, what was the point of being so mean-spirited...as usual. Totally lacking perspective? Empathy? Or just being Doc? Your usual habit of beating up on dead people mr. hero.

Simply putting things into perpective. He was a talented entertainer who made a lot of money by making people laugh. He also did a lot of drugs in the past. He also did a lot of boozing. He had a history of depression, which may or may not have been caused by his addictions or he could have inherited them. He took the easy way out and gave up on life by hanging himself. Another wealthy Hollywood actor who wound up throwing his life away.

In my book, that's no hero.

Heroes are people who put their lives on the line for others regularly. People who dedicate their lives in helping others. Those are the real heroes & when they die rarely do they get tributes.

That's putting things into perspective.

 

[Roadtripr]

"Taking the easy way out" implies that the person had the ability to make a rational decision. I doubt that it is possible in this case.

 

[Doc Holliday]

"Taking the easy way out" implies that the person had the ability to make a rational decision. I doubt that it is possible in this case.

Dick Cavett, who has battled severe depression for almost his entire life, said on the day after Williams killed himself that when you've reached the state of mind he was in at the time, that the easiest thing to do at that point is to kill yourself in order to stop dealing with your demons & mental issues once and for all.

 

[Doc Holliday]

"Taking the easy way out" implies that the person had the ability to make a rational decision. I doubt that it is possible in this case.

I actually believe that he had finally concluded that killing himself was the ONLY rational thing left to do in order to escape his life of constant misery & despair. He chose how & when he wanted to go and you have to give him credit for that.

 

[Roadtripr]

I respectfully disagree, Doc

As reported.

Investigators found superficial cuts on the inside of Williams' left wrist, and recovered a pocketknife with its blade closed and what looked like dried blood on it, Boyd said. The cause of death was "asphyxia due to hanging," according to preliminary results of an autopsy.

If a rational person were to decide to kill themselves, they would NOT try to use a pocketknife and then apparently resort to any alternate readily available method (belt). If you're rationally going "OFF" yourself, you better make sure that it's going to be successful, since the failure and survival options could be much worse (permanent physical or mental disability for the remainder of your life).

 

[Madmanacross]

I actually believe that he had finally concluded that killing himself was the ONLY rational thing left to do in order to escape his life of constant misery & despair. He chose how & when he wanted to go and you have to give him credit for that.

Ok, don't wanna sound like the expert here, but I work with suicidal individuals regularly, that's my job, and I can assure you that suicide is rarely a rational decision