Robin Williams found dead.

[Mage246]

No, I'm saying "sad" in the sense that "I am sad". As in, I admired him and still do, and I'm sad that the world has lost someone with his many accomplishments and talents, which I would have hoped would have helped him get through the rough times.

High and mighty? Look in the mirror.

 

[TheLoneWolf1]

Thank you for some beautiful childhood memories Robin. May you rest in peace.

 

[Almalexia]

It legitimately made my day darker when I heard. He was one of my favorite actors from my childhood. I guess what they say about some of the funniest people being the most tortured is true. Rest in peace, dude. 

 

[BobTheViking]

It legitimately made my day darker when I heard. He was one of my favorite actors from my childhood. I guess what they say about some of the funniest people being the most tortured is true. Rest in peace, dude. 

Same here. When I was told about his death I was hoping that it was a hoax and he wasn't really dead, and it's even more tragic now that we know it was likely a suicide. He was a good actor, one of my favorites as well (Good Morning Vietnam and Jumanji are probably my two favorite movies of his). I also found out that he was into gaming; what an honor it would have been to play a Warcraft 3 match against him.

Rest in peace, you will be missed.

 

[Almalexia]

Ugh, hate to say it, but inb4 all the whinging about overexposure of his passing.

People will learn of it and take it at different times, at their own time. I hope we won't have to hear about people complaining about this here, at least, and have some respect for the man and others.

 

[Sedericus]

Real shame, its also a real shame that people around him couldn't help him enough. 3 very close friends of mine suffer from depression and have tried to take their own lives but with good friends around them have managed to keep themselves balanced for many years now.

sad, sad times.

 

[El Perro Finlandese]

Damnit. Why it's always the funny ones?

 

[Pumpkin Lord]

Oh, another hollywood acrtress also dead. Lauren Baccall, well at least it is not a comedian this time.

 

[Radalan]

Damnit. Why it's always the funny ones?

Well...

http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/robin-williams-why-funny-people-kill-themselves/

 

[Anthropoid]

Damnit. Why it's always the funny ones?

Well...

http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/robin-williams-why-funny-people-kill-themselves/

Perhaps, but  less-than-funny people are hardly underrepresented in victims of suicide . . . Suicides Now America's Leading Cause Of Death By Injury: Study

Spoiler

Around the time of recession rocked the United States, its population experienced a disturbing shift: Today, suicide takes more American lives than any other form of injury.

Between 2000 and 2008 motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death by injury, but suicide surpassed car crashes in 2009, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Public Health. The switch is the culmination of a decade-long trend; the rate of death by suicide increased by 15 percent over the past ten years, while the unintentional motor vehicle crash death rate dropped by 25 percent during that same period.

The study didn’t specifically factor in economic conditions, but many have speculated that the downturn may be responsible for a boost in suicides in America and around the world. In Greece, the suicide rate for men rose by 24 percent between 2007 and 2009, according to The New York Times. Suicides motivated by economic crisis grew by 52 percent in Italy in 2010.

In England, unemployment may be tied to more than 1,000 suicides, according to a recent paper in the British Medical Journal.

In the U.S. the correlation between the boost in suicides the current economic downturn hasn’t been definitively established, but the rate of suicides in America did increase during past periods of economic crisis, like the Great Depression, the 1970s oil crisis and the recession in the 1980s, according to data from the Center for Disease Control cited by the Washington Post.

Tragically, there are plenty of anecdotal examples of “economic suicide” in the country. A Tennessee man lit himself on fire earlier this year after finding out he wouldn’t be getting financial help from a private organization. And in May, a California man shot and killed himself in the midst of a legal battle with Wells Fargo, while he faced the prospect of foreclosure . . .

Readily available figures indicate that the rate of suicide mortality is higher than the rate of homicide mortality in most countries.

(All numbers are rates per 100,000 population)
United States: 4.8 homicide rate in 2012 versus 19.2 male and 5.5 female suicide rates in 2009.
Germany: 0.8 homicide rate in 2011; versus  15.6 male and 4.7 female suicide rates in 2010.
Australia: 1.1 homicide rate in 2012 versus 15.3 male and 4.8 female suicide rates in 2011.
etc., etc.

There are probably nations which are exceptions, but as far as I'm aware suicide has shown a rapid rate of increase globally in the last 20 years. With war torn areas excepted, it is my understanding that suicide is globally the largest single cause of death by injury or violence.

 

[Almalexia]

But if he did in fact kill himself, my anger at him for being a selfish, coward, for setting a terrible example to the millions of other mentally ill people worldwide

https://www.yahoo.com/health/robin-williamss-suicide-inspires-others-to-speak-out-94643251217.html

Or perhaps not.

 

[Sedericus]

Again I find that a silly statement, he has caused widespread outcry for people to talk about this more and to take it more seriously.

 

[Kobrag]

Seriously, only a fiend could say such a ignoble thing.
Suicide is not ****ing easy.

 

[Carlos Danger]

That guy was in hollywood most of his damn life, he seen some ****, ever seen eyes wide shut? it gives us some good movies atleast.

 

[Anthropoid]

But if he did in fact kill himself, my anger at him for being a selfish, coward, for setting a terrible example to the millions of other mentally ill people worldwide

https://www.yahoo.com/health/robin-williamss-suicide-inspires-others-to-speak-out-94643251217.html

Or perhaps not.

Mr. Williams suicide may have been sufficient to prompt some celebrities to speak out about their own struggles, an outcome which might have some positive impact on the suffering of others.

However, adopting the hopeful view that this tragedy will have some measurable and significant impact on the collective well-being of the hundreds of millions of victims of depression and other mental illnesses worldwide, one still must ask one important question: was it _necessary_ for Mr. Williams to die in order for him to prompt such positive effects? Moreover, would it not be much better for him, and for all of us if rather than culminating his suicidal ideation, he had managed to overcome that morbid compulsion, admit himself to a hospital, and followup by founding a non-profit organization intended to build from his own suffering and prompt significant impact on the collective well-being of the hundreds of millions of victims of depression and other mental illnesses worldwide?

As I have said numerous times, his death makes me no less sad than any of you. But I am simultaneously angry at him for having taken the easy way out of his struggles and for failing to set a good example for anyone who also suffers in similar fashion. Nothing about that is fiendish or cruel, it is merely honest.

 

[Adorno]

You're echoing the negative view on the suicidal that's been heard for centuries.
People kill themselves because they're miserable - a state where other people's well being is far from their minds.
Show compassion for the dead and his melancholy, and don't think of it as selfish, but rather that person's only way out at the time.

 

[Anthropoid]

You're echoing the negative view on the suicidal that's been heard for centuries.
People kill themselves because they're miserable - a state where other people's well being is far from their minds.
Show compassion for the dead and his melancholy, and don't think of it as selfish, but rather that person's only way out at the time.

On the contrary, the notion that it was the person's "only way out" is the negative view and one which lacks both hope and compassion. Moreover, the message that there is always hope and that one should never succumb to the allure of suicidal ideations because of how objectively horrible and wrong it is is the message that has more promise of prompting others who are suffering to do what they need to do to save themselves.

Mental health care givers cannot help people who do not present for treatment or who are not assisted by friends and relatives in that respect. Friends and relatives cannot assist if they are not given sufficient signs that they need to act or intervene.

Indeed, the idea that Williams was fated to die in this way and that, in the days and hours leading up to his actions there was nothing he could have done differently is the truly fiendish view. This conception that suicidal ideation is some sort of unstoppable curse over which no one can exert any agency conveys to those who are suffering similarly that there is no hope and that it is largely pointless to seek help.

Suicide is wrong, in any instance where medical expediency and medical supervision and assistance are not involved. It is wrong because it is so preventable by the would-be victim seeking help to overcome the affliction. There is nothing in this premise that is stigmatizing about mental illness. There is nothing shameful or wrong about being depressed or about suffering suicidal ideation. But if you are depressed, you MUST take responsibility for yourself and seek the help you need to give yourself the best chances to overcome your suffering. Certainly tolerance and understanding of mental illness and sympathy for those suffering it are a good thing over all. But at the point where sympathy becomes false notions of destiny and clouds hope it has gone too far.

 

[Sir Saladin]

But if he did in fact kill himself, my anger at him for being a selfish, coward, for setting a terrible example to the millions of other mentally ill people worldwide

https://www.yahoo.com/health/robin-williamss-suicide-inspires-others-to-speak-out-94643251217.html

Or perhaps not.

Mr. Williams suicide may have been sufficient to prompt some celebrities to speak out about their own struggles, an outcome which might have some positive impact on the suffering of others.

However, adopting the hopeful view that this tragedy will have some measurable and significant impact on the collective well-being of the hundreds of millions of victims of depression and other mental illnesses worldwide, one still must ask one important question: was it _necessary_ for Mr. Williams to die in order for him to prompt such positive effects? Moreover, would it not be much better for him, and for all of us if rather than culminating his suicidal ideation, he had managed to overcome that morbid compulsion, admit himself to a hospital, and followup by founding a non-profit organization intended to build from his own suffering and prompt significant impact on the collective well-being of the hundreds of millions of victims of depression and other mental illnesses worldwide?

As I have said numerous times, his death makes me no less sad than any of you. But I am simultaneously angry at him for having taken the easy way out of his struggles and for failing to set a good example for anyone who also suffers in similar fashion. Nothing about that is fiendish or cruel, it is merely honest.

You can say it as numerously as you want but the repitition won't make you right. This "easy way out" stuff is bull**** and it wasn't in his job description to set good examples for anyone. He was never good role model material but why not wait a few weeks before criticizing him and using his death as an opportunity to preach your gospel of eternal life. He was old enough to know what he was doing and not everyone can be as brave and sure as you all the time. You can't expect everyone to measure up to the standards your example has set for us. 

 

[Sedericus]

You make it out as if he could just snap out of suffering from a mental illness and the fact he wanted to kill himself. what planet do you live on? you clearly have no idea what your talking about.

 

[Anthropoid]

You make it out as if he could just snap out of suffering from a mental illness and the fact he wanted to kill himself. what planet do you live on? you clearly have no idea what your talking about.

I think most of you do not know my real name and I prefer to keep it that way. However, in the interest of responding to your assertion that I "have no idea what [I'm] talking about . . ." I have several peer-reviewed scientific journal articles and chapters in scholarly books on topics of depression, stress and health risks. It is true I am not a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist, so I know less about the topic of suicide than an expert. But I believe I do know a bit more than you might surmise simply on the premise that I am espousing a view that is unpopular among the regulars on this particular forum. I receive emails such as the following about once every three months; now that I'm retired I feel I'm done with publishing but it is still nice to be reminded that my past work has drawn the attention of other scientists.

Spoiler

----Original Message-----
From: "Georges M. Halpern, MD, PhD"
Sent: Aug 12, 2014 8:34 AM
To: "Anthropoid"
Subject: Prof. Halpern invites you to IJCHN

Dear Dr. Anthropoid

I am Georges M. Halpern, Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.  I am also serving as the Associate Editor of the International Journal of Child Health and Nutrition (IJCHN).

Under the enterprising leadership of the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Silvia Kaufmann , the journal is now in its third volume and we are proud that journal continues to attract authors from around the world. You can view the free to download articles from the latest issue of 2014 here.  You can also view testimonials from authors pleased with the publisher's approach to rapid processing (within 4 to 6 weeks) of research articles at low cost with OPEN ACCESS option.

Our research team has looked up your name as a potential author in the field and therefore I am pleased to invite you to contribute a research manuscript  or a review article in the journal.

We are currently receiving papers for the forthcoming issue of 2014. If you are interested in contributing then please send me the title and one page abstract of your proposed manuscript by email as soon as possible.  The submission deadline for complete manuscript is 2 months. You can also submit your full manuscript using the Online Manuscript Submission & Tracking System.

We welcome senior researchers to join us as 'Guest Editors' and contribute Hot Topic issues (which includes 4 to 5 articles) on a particular topic of interest in "Child Health and Nutrition".  Guest Editors are entitled receive honorarium, free subscription of the journal for their institution and other benefits. So do let me know if you are interested in such an endeavor. For more details contact me at [email protected] .

About the Journal:
Published from Canada, IJCHN aims to publish peer-reviewed papers reporting advanced and novel research on the diverse aspects of health and prevention of nutrition-related diseases in children. This comprises  obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, HIV and other chronic diseases. It also focuses on studies of nutrient - gene interactions, bioavailability of minerals, malnutrition, health, diet & nutrition, nutritional status and general nutrition & dietetics in children.  The journal is published with the assistance of Lifescience Global.  Regardless of the negative publicity, the publisher is committed to publishing research rapidly online and providing a platform for worldwide dissemination using modern publishing model. The publisher is a member of CrossRef and their publications are indexed by SCOPUS, chemical abstracts, CAB Abstracts, Index Copernicus, IMEMR and AsiaNet. As a new journal this journal is also  currently being examined by SCOPUS and ISI Thompson Scientific for inclusion in their database.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any queries. If you think that anyone from your colleagues will be interested in submitting his/her work to the journal, please feel free to ask him to contact me.

I am looking forward to your positive response.

Best personal regards,

Georges M. Halpern, MD, PhD
Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hong Kong SAR

Associate Editor
International Journal of Child Health and Nutrition

Obviously the original email addressed me by my real name, not "Anthropoid"