RIP, famous person

[xoxoxoBruce]

Who said it was the reaction of a harsh life? What I said is it's easier for people living a harsh life to find excuses for their feeling depressed, so it's easier for them to overlook an underlying medical condition... plus not affording a doctor. I thought that's what Jim was talking about also.

[DanaC]

When I was poor for a few years (I'm currently on the breadline - but by choice and with options) I used to think that, and my rocky relationship was why I was depressed.

But over the years I have noticed that it comes and it goes with very little connection to what is going on in my life. Sure, there are triggers like money stress but - it can drop in from a clear blue sky. I can be in the middle of a really happy time, with everything going right - feeling loved and cared for, secure and content and then bang - it's back. Or I can be in the middle of crisis and be fine.

The black dog comes when it wants to come. And leaves when it wants to leave.

Looking back on my life - I am fairly sure (always difficult to assess emotional state in the past) that I have had bouts of depression on and off since I was around 8 years old.

[lumberjim]

That's icky

[Gravdigr]

It's just lint.

It's not like there's an old piece of candy stuck under there...

[lumberjim]

aaaaaghhhhh!

pass the brain bleach!

[sexobon]

I can imagine Robin doing stand-up at the pearly gates: Sometimes after a trying day, all a person wants is a stiff belt and to stretch out.

[zippyt]

I have heard this befor , RIP Sir , you were one of the good ones

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by zippyt

I have heard this befor , RIP Sir , you were one of the good ones

Great minds...

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

Great minds...

Or a couple of rednecks...

[Gravdigr]

Guilty.

Just smile when ya say it.

[orthodoc]

Originally Posted by zippyt

I have heard this befor , RIP Sir , you were one of the good ones

You hit the nail on the head, zippyt. That quote about the famous clown Pagliacci is in every text on depression. Rightly so.

I can't comment more on suicide than I did in another thread ... all I know is that, sometimes, the compulsion is virtually irresistible. It's a horrible thing. I will never regard it as selfish, only as tragic.

[DanaC]

Apparently, we aren't so far along on understanding suicide as we may be believe.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/28773734

Robin Williams' daughter Zelda says she is leaving Twitter because of social media abuse after her father's death.

The 25-year-old posted that she was deleting Twitter from her devices "maybe forever".

It appears at least two people sent her "photoshopped" images claiming to show her father's body.


-snip-

British comedian Russell Kane told Newsbeat that he was "offended" by some comments made after the death of Williams.

"People's comments saying how selfish Robin Williams is for doing this, people just don't understand what depression is like," he said.

Fox News TV anchor Shepard Smith sparked criticism after suggesting the actor was a "coward" to kill himself.

Smith has now said he regrets using the word while speculating on air what Williams may have been feeling at the time, according to the Associated Press.

Meanwhile TalkSport has apologised after its radio presenter Alan Brazil said he had "no sympathy" for suicide.

[Cyclefrance]

How can anyone consider that a person who commits suicide is taking an easy way out, running away from their problems, and such like. To get to the stage that you would actually take your own life can only be because, for you, it is the only way out. You are crushed mentally, physically, all treatments have failed you, life is unbearable, you believe you are a burden on the people you love. Suicide resolves it all and become justified as the logical solution. Yet all these thoughts, reasons and decisions are withheld - in your mind, depression is your lonely battle and so it follows that the resolution becomes yours alone too. How terrible and how sad.

[glatt]

I think it's kind of a balancing act. You have to condemn suicide because the message should be that it's unthinkable. If you present it as a reasonable option to end depression, then more depressed people are going to choose it, causing more grief and anguish for their families and friends.

But that has to be balanced with compassion for the person who is hurting so much that it's the only path they can see.

We shouldn't condemn anyone for choosing suicide, but we also shouldn't praise them for it in any way, or put a positive spin on it by saying stuff like "at least now they found peace." Suicide doesn't solve anything. It's just game over.

[Gravdigr]

I am still of the mind that suicide is the ultimate act of selfishness.

Still, I understand that there are many paths to that place. I have explored/lived many of those paths. These paths are wide, easy to find one's self on, and unfortunately, very well-traveled.