Robin Williams: Depression Alone Rarely Causes Suicide

benjs said:

backseatLover12 said:

benjs said:

Thanks for posting this, norm. I disagree with Rollins as well, and as someone who's been through depression, I know that Robin Williams didn't kill himself, nor did Rollins' depressed friend.

Depression hanged Rollins' friend, just as depression hanged Robin Williams. When someone dies of cancer, we say they died of cancer. When someone drinks too much even, we say they died as a byproduct of alcoholism. We call cancer a disease, we call alcoholism a disease, and we call depression a disease: yet someone dies of cancer, someone dies from alcoholism, or someone commits suicide. Wait, what?

Depression doesn't lead to suicide in the typical sense of the word: depression, like cancer, is a disease which is potentially lethal. One takes over your body and destroys it, the other takes over your mind and aims to destroy you. If one is to recognize depression as a real disease - he or she should also recognize the ramifications of it too. In my opinion, depression killed Robin Williams - not Robin Williams.

I don't know, I mean, we all have our own perspectives, and although there are parts in Rollins opinion piece where he is contradictory, I can't say I fully disagree. I definitely agree with him about having children. That is something I've always felt, that to leave them behind - purposely - is wrong. This is just my opinion. Just like it's just Henry Rollin's opinion. I have a child. Do the rest of you have children who disagree with him on this?

And in response to the last paragraph quoted above, I don't buy that depression kills people. I'm sorry. That's an excuse for suicide. That's making suicide a valid - and acceptable - option when we're depressed. We all have choices, and I understand that those who are severely depressed are not thinking straight, they want their pain to end desperately, and suicide seems to be a great option. But we as society should not just let our loved ones take that easy route, we need to get them the help they need while they're still here. Suicide should not be a viable option. That's just how I feel. Life is a huge gift, and it's short anyway so let's help our loved ones who are sick. Depression doesn't have to "kill". There is no cure for cancer, we have zero control over our survival. But depression is different. It doesn't have to be deadly.

Not to mention, and I don't know who's spiritual here, the spirit of those who take their own lives are usually lost, teetering between earth and where the spirit should go. Houses that have had suicides are usually haunted, those who took their own lives are doomed to walk the planks of the house because their spirits were not at peace when they left this world. Now I know people will think that's crazy, but it's true in many cases.

Honestly, I think we're going to disagree, and that's because I've suffered from depression, and I get the feeling that you haven't. The path of logic seems so reasonable to you - I love my children, therefore I owe them my continuous love, therefore I can not leave my children - is absurdly obvious to you. This is not when you have depression. It may or may not be there (that is, it may enter your mind), but the amplitude of this thought is so quiet it can be considered complete silence.

In regards to your second paragraph, I think you've misinterpreted my stance. I can recognize the validity of depression, and I can recognize the side effects and potentially fatal causes, but just as I would encourage a cancer patient to seek treatment - I would do the same for anyone with depression. The challenge is in figuring out how best to help, when the logical framework you abide by differs from a friend with a depression. I assure you - I am not anti-help. And as most people who successfully fought through a depression will tell you - they are mostly here because of help.

Recognizing the potentially lethal nature of depression is critical in my opinion though: if you don't blame a disease for the potential death of a person, you are by process of elimination transferring the blame of the potential death of a person to that person himself. Now, if you're suffering from depression, blame and sensitivity are two things that are tremendously amplified, so how would you expect someone to feel when you essentially tell them they are a hindrance when they're alive (by being a constant burden - a very typical feeling for someone with depression), but they would be a bigger hindrance when they're dead? That's putting someone between a rock and a hard place - but at least if they let depression win and take their lives, they can have some semblance of silence and thoughtlessness: which is better than perpetual bleakness.

As for the spirituality statement, besides the obvious unprovable nature of the theory, I'm not entirely sure how it would or should affect the stance of those of us in the land of the living.