Robin Williams, Depression & The Irony of it all
Robin Williams, dead. Apparent suicide caused by depression
My little contribution:
Twitter ( all of Social Media, to be honest) has been in overdrive since the death of this great actor yesterday
One common theme runs through all the comments I've read: "Depression sucks. Robin William helped me with mine and I just wish someone could have helped him with his"
Hear what he had to say in this clip:
"If you're that depressed, reach out to someone. And remember, suicide is a permanent solution, to a temporary problem." -Robin Williams
How ironic!!
The man impacted lives, from that of the President to that of your next door neighbour
President Obama's statement on the Passing of Robin Williams:
"Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien – but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most – from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets. The Obama family offers our condolences to Robin’s family, his friends, and everyone who found their voice and their verse thanks to Robin Williams."
These are the kind of comments you'll read about the guy:
"..I've always heard people talking about how a certain celebrity death really hurt them, and I couldn't honestly understand it. I had never really looked up to or had been effected by someone I never even met before. Now I know. This death hit me like a ton of bricks. I am at a loss of words truly. All I can say is I truly will miss this man and everything he has done..."
I couldn't agree more!
If you're a film lover, I dare you to watch these films and come out of the experience not feeling happier- irrespective of how down, rotten or 'depressed' you felt before watching them:
Mrs Doubtfire, Jumanji, Hook, Aladdin, Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting, Bird Cage
Someone said:
"If an icon of happiness can die of sadness, then what hope do we have? "
Another replied:
"To be happy because of the mark they left on the world. Because even though they've left, the happiness they brought can't be erased."
Spielberg is said to have contacted Robin Williams, on a daily basis, to cheer the cast and crew of Schindler's List up during filming -as the film was too depressing
Christopher Reeves got his first laugh after his life-altering accident ( which left him paralysed) when Robin Williams pretended to be a doctor, badged into his room and offered to perform an enema on him!
This says it all about Robin Williams death:
Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says, "Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up." Man bursts into tears. Says, "But doctor...I am Pagliacci."
Depression is real, get help before it is too late, y'all
Thankfully, for all the ills of Religion, giving hope and succour to the low in spirit is a big positive. This probably explains why suicide from such conditions are uncommon among Africans.
Check out Robin Williams' famous Speech about the meaning and power of true love in 'Good Will Hunting':
(He won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance )
"So if I asked you about art, you'd probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life's work, political aspirations, him and the Pope, sexual orientation, the whole works, right?
But I'll bet you can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You've never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling. Seen that.
If I ask you about women, you'd probably give me a syllabus about your personal favorites. You may have even been laid a few times. But you can't tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy.
You're a tough kid. And I'd ask you about war, you'd probably throw Shakespeare at me, right: "Once more into the breach, dear friends." But you've never been near one. You've never held your best friend's head in your lap, and watch him gasp his last breath looking to you for help.
I'd ask you about love, you'd probably quote me a sonnet. But you've never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on Earth just for you.
Who could rescue you from the depths of Hell. And you wouldn't know what it's like to be her angel, to have that love for her, be there forever, through anything, through cancer. And you wouldn't know about sleeping sittin' up in the hospital room for two months, holding her hand, because the doctors could see in your eyes that the terms "visiting hours" don't apply to you.
You don't know about real loss, 'cause that only occurs when you've loved something more than you love yourself. And I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much.
I look at you. I don't see an intelligent, confident man. I see a cocky, scared shitless kid. But you're a genius, Will. No one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of you.
But you presume to know everything about me because you saw a painting of mine. You ripped my f*ckin' life apart. You're an orphan, right? Do you think I'd know the first thing about how hard your life has been, how you feel, who you are, 'cause I read Oliver Twist?
Does that encapsulate you? Personally, I don't give a sh*t about all that, because you know what, I can't learn anything from you I can't read in some f*ckin' book.
Unless you want to talk about you, who you are. Then I'm fascinated. I'm in. But you don't wanna do that, do you, sport? You're terrified of what you might say. Your move, Chief."
Read words don't do enough justice to that speech! Watch the scene here:
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