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Williams' death serves notice of dangers that come with fame

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Williams' death serves notice of dangers that come with fame

No. Williams had a lot of psychological problems that had nothing to do with fame. Whoever wrote this (or at least the poor headline) apparently knows nothing about his life prior to his becoming famous.

Both Williams' and Hoffman's drug abuse were linked to mental anguish that was always bubbling just under the surface. Williams has stated this more than once, as did the people who were supposedly interviewed for the article. And yet the "author" of the article and the headline writer suggest that it was "fame" led to the drug addictions.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

I think Robin Williams was amazing. He was troubled, to be sure, and had addiction issues and a sadness that obviously haunted him. Poor guy.

With the disclaimer that I am not a doctor, geneticist or psychologist, but just an average person observing life around me, some days I wonder if simply dismissing depression as a physio-chemically based deficiency might not be a little too convenient and reductive. Not to deny that there is a brain chemistry part of it, that's been proven, but I'm not seeing much scientific inquiry into the environmental/societal factors that could trigger the chemistry. The nature-nurture argument, I guess.

"He can't help it, he is sick" sometimes seems like a cop-out because it dis-assumes or rejects any exploration of surrounding factors, and conveniently discounts any societal influence. Some things are not simplistic enough to be solved through a pill, and I sometimes wonder if this is one of them. I suspect sadness is a response to circumstances, not exclusively a pre-existing condition.

In any case, RIP Mr. Williams.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Most creative people have problems with depression. And, I must admit, we're not the most mentally stable people in the world. And it's true, comedians really do have the worst of it. The bad thing is, we learn very quickly to cover it up and hide it deeply. Never let anyone know. In our case, rather than drug abuse, it's actually self medication. The only way we can see to hide and to fight it,. sometimes. I learned how to overcome my own problems. I sort of died first and that will really wake you up. Not all of us learn to deal. many of us are lost to the shadows. I didn't know Robin, though I enjoyed his work immensely. But i've lost my share of friends in the business - a couple of writers, a musician, an artist. It happens. Fame really doesn't help, but I can't say it's the primary cause either. The fact is, you can have everything in the world and still be completely miserable. Sometimes, I guess, taking the shadow ride seems like the only answer when you feel like there's no hope and no future. Having been a psychologist, I should have better answers. But i'm also a writer and artist, and if I never understood the whys of it myself, there's no guarantee of understanding it in others. I figured out how to beat it in myself, but it never goes away. It's a lot like alcoholism, lurking, always waiting to pounce if it finds an opening. It's a disease, certainly, but a disease of the worst kind. A disease that attacks our most precious possession, our mind.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Most creative people have problems with depression. And, I must admit, we're not the most mentally stable people in the world. And it's true, comedians really do have the worst of it. The bad thing is, we learn very quickly to cover it up and hide it deeply. Never let anyone know. In our case, rather than drug abuse, it's actually self medication. The only way we can see to hide and to fight it,. sometimes. I learned how to overcome my own problems. I sort of died first and that will really wake you up. Not all of us learn to deal. many of us are lost to the shadows. I didn't know Robin, though I enjoyed his work immensely. But i've lost my share of friends in the business - a couple of writers, a musician, an artist. It happens. Fame really doesn't help, but I can't say it's the primary cause either. The fact is, you can have everything in the world and still be completely miserable. Sometimes, I guess, taking the shadow ride seems like the only answer when you feel like there's no hope and no future. Having been a psychologist, I should have better answers. But i'm also a writer and artist, and if I never understood the whys of it myself, there's no guarantee of understanding it in others. I figured out how to beat it in myself, but it never goes away. It's a lot like alcoholism, lurking, always waiting to pounce if it finds an opening. It's a disease, certainly, but a disease of the worst kind. A disease that attacks our most precious possession, our mind.

Well said.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Dangers that come with fame? Are you serious? The tragic death of a person who was famous should serve as a reverberating message that no one, despite their fame or fortune, is immune to mental illness if he or she has mental illness. Fame does not cause mental illness.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Williams problems came from an extremely brutal and harsh court system that forced him to pay unreasonable alimony payments from a previous marriage. Divorce court placed him in a position where he had to pay $20 million+ for his previous 2 wives. Money that those two don't even deserve. When your famous, and you get divorce then you can be sure that divorce court will slap you with an outrageous alimony payment. The sadness this brought him led him to addictions and eventually death. So women and divorce court are certainly responsible for his suicide.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Sobering stuff. Lets take a moment to be thankful we don't suffer from fame, and spare a thought for those who do.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

There's a thin line between sadness and depression. Robin Williams suffered frm depression,period. This/ he himself should serve as an example that mental illness is a disease like any other diseases and if left untreated can lead to something unimaginable for the sufferer. What's happening in Japan, with all those weird issues of murder I can assure you that they have all committed by humans with sever mental illness. Japan should wake up fast and accept that this is another kind of illness to be recognized and dealt with a lot of compassion, patience and time,,,you just can't enter a clinic, wait for your name to be called after hours of waiting only to be given some light anxiety drugs and shout "next" for the next patient to come in...doctors will need a lot of training in how to show their love and their time when consulting.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The only way that Robin William's death differs from thousands of other depression-related suicides is that he was famous.

It was a tragedy, but the real tragedy is the hypocrisy it reveals in society. When someone who isn't famous, and who doesn't necessarily have the resources to get proper treatment dies they're condemned as weak, a loser, and in many cases their family has the bill sent to them.

But when someone famous, with massive resources and plenty of professional help, commits suicide there's this outpouring of sympathy and condolences.

Let's take a moment to understand that all depressive people, famous or not, deserve our sympathy and respect.

6 ( +7 / -2 )

Thank you for saying that, Frungy. I've really gotten sick of the comments on such threads, "selfish", "weak", etc.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

If anyone's untimely death or suicide was because of fame, it was only a contributing factor.

What actually did it to many was living life very fast until there was nothing exciting left, leaving them super bored.

But in the case of Williams, he was not the first man who could make us laugh but had trouble laughing himself. His problem was a ticking time bomb from long before he got famous.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

"Most creative people have problems with depression."

We should perhaps consider the notion that mental illness can lead to fame and not the other way round. Most successful comedians are highly perceptive and highly intelligent. But not all perceptive and intelligent people are comedians. What is it that makes them become clowns and jesters - a trade that is learned or an existing condition. If the latter, then it's possible that the more serious the condition and the more intelligent you are, then the better jester you become. And thus the fame.

A sweeping generalization, I know.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

It often must be terrible to be a famous person. Knowing that almost everyone watches you no matter where you are or what you're doing would be very stressful in itself. I don't think the very unfortunate death of Robin Williams 'serves notice of the dangers that come with fame' as the title suggests. This phenomenon has long been discussed and debated but, in some cases, it really seems to be the ultimate price of fame.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

AiserXAUG. 14, 2014 - 11:06AM JST Williams problems came from an extremely brutal and harsh court system that forced him to pay unreasonable alimony payments from a previous marriage.

While I'm sure as a multimillionaire it was tough paying alimony (Williams left his first wife for their nanny), his psychological problems stem from childhood, something you obviously know nothing about in spite of Williams being very frank about this.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

His wife said sometime today, that he was also suffering the beginning stages of Parkinson's disease. kind of like the straw that broke the camel's back, I guess.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I'd say that Robin William's death is more to do with the dangers of psychiatry than fame. He was having psychiatric treatment for depression and alcoholism.

The result was suicide.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Yes, but the list of famous people who have killed themselves is very long.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Thank you "bonestructure" and "frungy." It was such a helpless feeling to see my brother-in-law deal with the place in his head the rest of us could not see or calm. Therapy, medication, all just prolonged the ending of suffering he sought. Beyond sad for him and the family. He was not famous, but we loved him and he was a kind, creative, and gentle person, nonetheless. Mental illness is still a huge mystery.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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