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Old 08-11-2014, 09:57 PM   #21
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I was stunned to hear the news. At first, all I heard on the car radio was that he died. It wasn't until a few hours later I learned he had killed himself, making a sad piece of news even worse.

It was always fun to see him interviewed on a talk show because he would simply take over the interview and break everyone up. My favorite was when he was interviewed by James Lipton on his "Inside the Actor's Studio" show. There was some poor woman near the front who was hysterical the whole time and Williams quickly picked up on it and milked it for all it was worth. I thought the woman was either going to have a heart attack or wet her pants.

He was an amazing talent who will be missed a lot and who died way too soon.

RIP Robin Williams
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Old 08-11-2014, 10:22 PM   #22
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Yes. I don't think it was a case of he couldn't or didn't get help. The Help simply didn't help
I think it was more that he had been looking for help, checking back in rehab not long ago. We'll probably never know exactly why he decided to take his own life.

Perhaps he was on some antidepressants but suddenly stopped. That could lead to suicidal thoughts.

Depression can really make one not think straight.

It's just sad.


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"With depression, people just forget," said Cerel also an associate professor at the University of Kentucky. "They get so consumed by the depression and by the feelings of not being worthy that they forget all the wonderful things in their lives."

They feel like a burden on their family and that the world would be better off without them.

"Having depression and being in a suicidal state twists reality. It doesn't matter if someone has a wife or is well loved," Cerel said.
Suicide a risk even for beloved characters like Williams
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Old 08-12-2014, 07:42 AM   #23
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Depression is a horrible illness. You generally think you are thinking straight and that things really are as bad as you feel they are. Its like walking inside a cloud and every bad thought just bounces around back to you, stronger than it was when you first thought it. Thankfully medication works for me and lifts that awful cloud so I can see the sunshine around me.

My heart breaks for what Robin Williams must have been feeling, and it breaks for his family who have been left behind to wonder what more they could have done. And it breaks for all of us, who have lost a genius and a person who has created memories and laughter for each of us.
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Old 08-12-2014, 08:17 AM   #24
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My heart breaks for what Robin Williams must have been feeling, and it breaks for his family who have been left behind to wonder what more they could have done. And it breaks for all of us, who have lost a genius and a person who has created memories and laughter for each of us.

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Old 08-12-2014, 08:26 AM   #25
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I grew up in SF and recall the many times I saw RW at the "Holy City Zoo" comedy club. This was before Hollywood snagged him. You just knew you were watching something special. His work with charities knew no bounds (USO, Cancer Research, Education, Homeless, AIDS). A giver 'fanatic". Another chapter of life permanently closed for me. RIP
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Old 08-12-2014, 08:53 AM   #26
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Depression is a horrible illness. You generally think you are thinking straight and that things really are as bad as you feel they are.
+1. And the individual, at the time of the episode, just doesn't see out of the pit, that things will get better (as they have in the past). But, a couple days or weeks later, if they get through the episode, all is well again.

My undergrad dabblings in Psych courses left me with the strong opinion that physical neurochemistry holds the key to understanding many psychological issues that we have traditionally ascribed to poor upbringing, character weakness, etc. Lots of questions ahead for society: Where does individual responsibility for our actions start/end, the cause/effect link between neurochemistry and thoughts/mood/behavior (it goes both ways), and does an individual have the right to live their life on the roller-coaster of mental illness/mood disorders/chemical dependency if that's what they say they want? (Are they competent to choose? Says who?). Lots of well intentioned compassionate answers have second-order effects that are not good.
I'll miss Robin Williams. We know his personal story is no more tragic than millions of others every year, but he did touch so many lives.
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Old 08-12-2014, 09:41 AM   #27
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Very unfortunate - he seemed an heir to Jonathon Winters drop of water in a hot skillet comedy style, albeit sweeter in personality. Was astounded that Winters only died in 2013 at the ripe age of 87, way older than I'd have expected. Robin Williams died too soon - sorry for the pain he must have felt. Genius.
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Old 08-12-2014, 09:45 AM   #28
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+1. And the individual, at the time of the episode, just doesn't see out of the pit, that things will get better (as they have in the past). But, a couple days or weeks later, if they get through the episode, all is well again.

My undergrad dabblings in Psych courses left me with the strong opinion that physical neurochemistry holds the key to understanding many psychological issues that we have traditionally ascribed to poor upbringing, character weakness, etc. Lots of questions ahead for society: Where does individual responsibility for our actions start/end, the cause/effect link between neurochemistry and thoughts/mood/behavior (it goes both ways), and does an individual have the right to live their life on the roller-coaster of mental illness/mood disorders/chemical dependency if that's what they say they want? (Are they competent to choose? Says who?). Lots of well intentioned compassionate answers have second-order effects that are not good.
I'll miss Robin Williams. We know his personal story is no more tragic than millions of others every year, but he did touch so many lives.
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Old 08-12-2014, 10:11 AM   #29
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This article said it all for me:

The Other Side of ‘Poor Robin Williams’

Summed up in the final paragraph...
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Maybe people like Robin Williams aren’t mentally ill. Maybe they’re so good, so bright, so creative, so sensitive – all of this in a world that can’t give them what they really need, a sense of being SEEN, of being VISIBLE (and no, being on screen is not, or may not, be that), of being known and loved for being their brilliant true selves, and by people whose opinions they value – that they eventually run out of steam and just … die
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Old 08-12-2014, 10:32 AM   #30
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Very bummed! He was a ferocious artist. Charlie Rose commented today that he had the quickest "brain to tongue time, ever".. interesting.

Long time signature... now a cautionary tale.
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Old 08-12-2014, 10:40 AM   #31
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Janet, I thought of your sig line when I heard the news.
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Old 08-12-2014, 10:53 AM   #32
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Someone remarked that Lou Gehrig had died of a disease called Lou Gehrig's disease, and Williams instantly quipped, "What a coincidence!" That was the hair-trigger wit that always cracked me up. Mrs. Doubtfire was not to my taste, but I didn't hold that against him. You have to please the public if you wanna get paid.

I will always remember him for taking on extra work to help support Christopher Reeve's family when their dad's medical bills had them nearly in the poorhouse.

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Old 08-12-2014, 11:01 AM   #33
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Trying, in vain I'm sure, to add a bit of humor to a sad thread.........

When I saw the headlines about Robin Williams death, I went and told DW that Robin Williams of the Robin and Linda Williams singing duo (we're big fans) had died. Ooooops. The truth came to light shortly thereafter.
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Old 08-12-2014, 12:56 PM   #34
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Someone remarked that Lou Gehrig had died of a disease called Lou Gehrig's disease, and Williams instantly quipped, "What a coincidence!" That was the hair-trigger wit that always cracked me up. Mrs. Doubtfire was not to my taste, but I didn't hold that against him. You have to please the public if you wanna get paid.

I will always remember him for taking on extra work to help support Christopher Reeve's family when their dad's medical bills had them nearly in the poorhouse.

Amethyst
+1 I never heard that Lou Gehrig line - that's great!

I'm not a big TV/Movie person, so I'm really not familiar with much of his work. But of course I'd catch him from time to time on a talk show, or variety show, or as an emcee of some event and I was always just stunned - that guy was playing on a different level than just about everyone else in the business! And I've said that before he passed.

He did the voice-over for Aladdin in the Disney animated movie that my kids watched a zillion times, and I loved him in that! Mrs. Doubtfire - yeah, not so much, but he still had his moments.

I recall hearing a while back that he had alcohol/substance abuse issues. That made me very sad. Maybe his genius was one side of the possible bipolar issues, and depression/drugs the other? I think it works like that sometimes. I get concerned that some people might think that alcohol/substance abuse is just part of being genius, and skip the cause-effect part of that.

I had an up close and personal experience with a depressed person. No way to get into it w/o an overly long post, so I'll just say that these people find themselves sucked into a pit and see no escape and there just does not seem to be anything you can say to them - they are just not open to anything positive at all (which leads to depression for the people trying to help). Fortunately, there are ways out, and this story is going well now. A combination of meds, intense counselling, and just needing to work through some problems? I don't know, I don't know that anyone knows - but it is a scary, hairy, fine-line between moving on and not.

BTW, the freakonomics guys did an absolutely fascinating podcast on the subject of suicide, along with an equally fascinating debate about whether they should do a podcast on the subject of suicide. I learned a lot from it, though it is disturbing, I think some good comes from it.

Freakonomics ยป New Freakonomics Radio Podcast: “The Suicide Paradox”

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Old 08-12-2014, 01:17 PM   #35
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Very unfortunate - he seemed an heir to Jonathon Winters drop of water in a hot skillet comedy style, albeit sweeter in personality. Was astounded that Winters only died in 2013 at the ripe age of 87, way older than I'd have expected. Robin Williams died too soon - sorry for the pain he must have felt. Genius.
I read earlier today that Robin Williams considered Winters a comedic role model to emulate. It sounds like he succeeded in doing that. He will be much missed.
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Old 08-12-2014, 03:20 PM   #36
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A great and untimely loss. RIP.
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Old 08-12-2014, 05:28 PM   #37
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Like everyone else I was deeply saddened to hear of Robin William's passing. I LOVED everything he did and will miss him greatly.

I wonder how much booze and drugs played a role in his depression and suicide. I allways tell my kids......".don't do drugs.....if you like your 1st drink a lot, make it your last one"......I've known many smart, bright people that try drugs and get hooked......suffer for years because of their addiction......It's so sad.....Robin Williams was in and out of treatment centers for years......and, now he, who was so competent and funny, has been lossed to all of us. What a terrible shame.
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Old 08-12-2014, 06:16 PM   #38
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He was truely a special talent. I remember when he was unleashed on us via Happy Days. I was just a kid then but I could tell he was something completely different in those episodes. But for some reason I was not surprised to hear of his passing and the way it happened. We've seen this time and again - for whatever reason the greatness is hard to live with...
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Old 08-12-2014, 06:35 PM   #39
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I can kind of "get it". A very close friend has suffered from manic depression for decades. He's an airplane pilot (qualified in several multimillion $ private jets) and an A&P mechanic. He taught me to fly 30+ years ago. People who own expensive jets don't let just anyone fly them, ratings or no. If he wants an airplane with more capability than his Pitts Special - that he built - he can call any number of people who will loan him theirs. "Just fill the tanks when you're done". Some don't even want that.

He has a gift for teaching, and is an astonishing mechanical genius at work fixing broken airplanes. People fly from several states away to have him work on their airplanes.

And yet I've seen him in the depths of depression, and it's hard. He's my best friend, I want to help, and there's nothing I can do other than be there. He has and does get professional help, but at this point there are limits to what can be done.

It is not enough.
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Old 08-12-2014, 07:05 PM   #40
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James Garner, Lauren Bacall and Robin Williams. Not a good few weeks for legendary show people. But, Williams was way to young. :-(
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