RIP Robin Williams

[Calamity Jane]

What a talent - he will be sorely missed. Just can't believe it. Feel like I've known him all my life - he was in Mork & Mindy when I was in high school. Must've struggled mightily with depression.

My heart and prayers go out to his family & friends.

 

[JKF]

I'm devastated CJ. Such a loss. One of my favorite actors of all time. I, too, am praying for his family and friends.


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[Wiped Out]

So very tragic. I also watched Mork and Mindy and loved him in all of the movies I saw him in. He will be greatly missed.

 

[recoveringenabler]

RIP Mr. Williams.

 

[nlj]

So sad. Just woke to the news here in the UK. My ten-year-old daughter is still asleep, she'll be very upset when she wakes up and finds out that Mrs Doubtfire is dead.

 

[pasajes4]

They are saying that it appears to be a suicide. His new show, The Crazy Ones, was really funny. He was very open about his battle with depression and substance abuse. He was one of a kind. Such a loss of creative genius.

 

[BusynMember]

So sad. Such a gifted man. Depression and addiction are such an ugly diseases, destroying good people.

R.I.P. to a man who gave me so many laughs and some tears.

 

[DammitJanet]

Tony woke me up this morning to tell me this news. I am so very sad for him. They do believe it was suicide. So many people dont believe mental illness is as bad as it is. It truly is a fatal disease if you cannot get it under control.

 

[pasajes4]

Perhaps his passing will bring about discussions on depression and the necessity to seek treatment. This very well could be an opening for some people to open up about their struggles to their loved ones.

 

[donna723]

Such a profound loss, such an amazingly talented and genuinely nice man! An old friend of mine, one of my 60's musician buddies, met him years ago. My friend was part of the sound crew when they were filming "The Bird Cage" in Miami, and he said that Robin Williams just never stopped! When the cameras stopped, he would keep right on going, carrying on with the film crew until he had them rolling with laughter. He worked just as hard entertaining them as he did in front of audiences of millions on TV. All he wanted was to make people happy and make them laugh and he certainly succeeded.

 

[AnnieO]

I, too, am heartbroken... He was such an inspiration! One of my very favorite movies is Dead Poets Society... And even in One Hour Photo, he did a fantastic job.

I read in an article that he was great in groups but had no true social skills one on one... That might account for the multiple marriages. And, too, it sounds so much like our kids... :-(

 

[BusynMember]

NPR had one of his good buddies on today. I wish I knew who he was. Maybe some of you do...he had a strong accent and was clearly friendly with many of the great comedians, including Robin Williams and John Belushi and he said Robin was always "on."
A psychologist was on next and he said that Robin Williams was manic and could never turn it off and refused to let anyone see his darker side. I guess he also had known him. Again, wish I could have remembered names, but I'm not not of a movie person so there are many people everyone knows that I do not. This psychologist said that Jim Carrey is exactly like Robin Williams. I had heard that Carrey suffers from depression. All I could think was, "Oh, God, no, not nother one. May Jim live to a ripe old age."

 

[Nomad]

I absolutely see the similarities between him and Jim Carrey.

I saw part of the press conference today an it seems he hung himself. The police officer seemed to be almost hinting that he may have left a note...I missed some of that. But, then he said that the media will be informed "if" he left a note.

I think he was one of the best comedic actors ever.

Does anyone find it interesting that the media refers to him as suffering from depression, but also often uses the word "manic" when referring to his comedic style? I go to a website called psychcentral and they are saying he suffered from Bipolar illness plain and simple. Perhaps he wasn't BiPolar (BP)? Didn't want to be known as having BiPolar (BP)? Does anyone get a "feel" for this?

Well, I do hope that this will bring more awareness to the needs/challenges of the mentally ill in general. I do think that there is a very good chance it will.

 

[Kathy813]

It is so sad. I guess having all of the money in the world can't fix mental illness and addiction. You know that he had the best mental health care at his disposal and yet he still did this.

I feel really bad for his kids.

~Kathy

 

[Childofmine]

I also heard today that Chevy Chase tweeted that he also suffers from severe depression and has been recently suicidal and now knows he needs to get help.

When you think about it, these high energy, never-off comedians make it look so effortless and inside it is a completely different story.

Maybe that is the tradeoff---a great talent alongside a great burden to bear. Maybe that comes as a package.

I just hate that Robin Williams is dead, but when you stop and think about it, it's not surprising. Such a great talent.

 

[JKF]

They just did a whole segment about Robin on the news and I'm sitting here in tears. I'm so sincerely saddened by his death. He was such a talented, kindhearted man and it's so heartbreaking that his demons finally got him. It really hits close to home because a tragedy like this shows no matter how much a person has or how successful they are they can never truly escape the clutches of mental illness. Truly a loss on so many levels.


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[runawaybunny]

Tragic loss. RIP. My heart goes out to his friends and family.

Successful comedians display symptoms of psychosis, study says - The Guardian
Unusual personalities 'connect random thoughts' and impulsive, irrational minds can create best comedy, research suggests

Comedians are able to make people laugh because they often display characteristics usually found in people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, research claims.

Their talent to amuse people lies in having unusual personalities and displaying what researchers say are high levels of psychotic characteristics, according to findings which appear to support the widely held belief of a link between madness and creativity.

The results are based on a study of how 523 comedians from the UK, USA and Australia described their own personalities and beliefs when they filled in a questionnaire measuring psychotic traits in people who are not troubled by mental illness.

 

[donna723]

Another one that I've heard that suffers from severe depression is former football player Terry Bradshaw. If you've ever seen him on one of the talk shows, he is very much the same type - extremely hyper, very high energy, almost frantic, and very, very funny!

 

[DammitJanet]

Its well known that artistic types tend toward some sort of mental illness...also very intelligent people. You can see so much of it in Hollywood and the other arts.

 

[BusynMember]

I absolutely see the similarities between him and Jim Carrey.

I saw part of the press conference today an it seems he hung himself. The police officer seemed to be almost hinting that he may have left a note...I missed some of that. But, then he said that the media will be informed "if" he left a note.

I think he was one of the best comedic actors ever.

Does anyone find it interesting that the media refers to him as suffering from depression, but also often uses the word "manic" when referring to his comedic style? I go to a website called psychcentral and they are saying he suffered from Bipolar illness plain and simple. Perhaps he wasn't BiPolar (BP)? Didn't want to be known as having BiPolar (BP)? Does anyone get a "feel" for this?

Well, I do hope that this will bring more awareness to the needs/challenges of the mentally ill in general. I do think that there is a very good chance it will.

Nomad, to me they sent mix messages. They said he ACTED manic while performing, which he did, and also at parties to entertain others. I am wondering if they mean he really had bipolar or he was sort of a "tears of a clown" type of guy. I can't seem to figure it out. I do know the suicide rate in bipolar is higher than with regular depression. I am still reeling and it is the next day. I am seeing him as Mrs. Doubtfire and Mork and any one of his other brilliant performances.

Janet, when I was in the hospital, they let me read their stuff (the professionals). One book I was given was called "Moodswing" by Dr. Ronald Fieve. This book is old, but still around, and I have heard his theories and read them even today, in 2014. Creative people have a much higher rate of mood disorders. Remembering his book, in a control population 1 out of 10 people will suffer from a debilitating mood problem of some sort. If you take only people with creativity it becomes 8 out of 10. I will never forget reading that and have followed up on that number. It interested me because, above everything else I am, creative would best describe me,a lthough certainly not brilliantly creative like Robin Williams, but still. Also, when I was writing, I joined an author's group that was mostly Avon writers and they have their own self-help group for depression since so many authors suffer from depression, way more than in the general population.
Janet, I think you are spot on and that it has been proven. It doesn't help that in show business, or any creative field, drugs are accepted and used A LOT. So good post, Janet.