Robin Williams suicide, people chiming in

Hearing about Robin Williams committing suicide yesterday hit my heart really hard. As someone who has almost committed suicide I can relate to how he was feeling because those days before , the act youre about to committ seems okay.

Ive been seeing people on facebook post stuff like " dont scroll past this if you would stay up all night with someone you love who was going to committ suicide" or this was my favourite " why do we have to wait till someone kills themself to honour their life, why cant we focus on the people alive now"

LIKE I CANT

these people posting this crap think suicide is this awful act that leaves family heartbroken. The way ive always seen suicide is yes it is a quick way out but in that moment in your life the dirt is pilling ontop of you so fast you cant breathe and there is no other way out.

Yes suicide is an awful thing to happen to any family , its heart breaking and devasting but please rememeber that person is in the most peace they have ever felt.

I just hate it when I see people who clearly havent had to deal with a mental illness or have family or someone around them with it post these quotes and sayings like they know whats up.
(people on here will obviously know what I mean)

I think everyone just needs to say nothing and let him rest in peace

I think the same! I feel MORE alienated from people when they talk about it like they can solve the problem if they just knew. I posted on another thread about how hard it is to talk about anyway, and the funny thing is some of the people who have been posting these things I HAVE reached out to a little lately. For eg being invited to things and I've said "sorry, I'm not well at the minute, feeling depressed and don't want to socialise." And all they've said to me is hope you're feeling better soon. But they find out a celebrity has suffered and they're all over it, I guess I'm just not glamorous enough!

I don't mean to rant, because at the end of the day it's about the man who couldn't take life anymore and nothing else. But I agree, I even feel slightly offended that people are discussing his suffering in public when they have no clue.

Not everyone feels in "the most peace" prior to a suicide attempt. Also many people enjoyed Robin Williams work and might have grown up watching him on the TV, so I can understand why they have been affected by his suicide. Surely they deserve to express how they feel about his death?

Semi-Interesting wrote:Not everyone feels in "the most peace" prior to a suicide attempt. Also many people enjoyed Robin Williams work and might have grown up watching him on the TV, so I can understand why they have been affected by his suicide. Surely they deserve to express how they feel about his death?

Yes they do! My feelings of being offended at people discussing/debating mental illness in plain view is irrational, I know. I grew up watching him on tv also so I understand how it has affected literally everyone. It's just the way people are throwing quotes and things around, some are awesome... like Jason Manford's status was really great, along with the support it got. Other's not so.

Semi-Interesting wrote:Not everyone feels in "the most peace" prior to a suicide attempt.

I didnt mean it like that , but there is peace in that moment because you know everything thats happening is going away. But people who have not dealt with a mental illness themself or within a family or friend circle I dont think have the right to chime in and say what he did was selfish or cowardly. Please live an hour in any one of our shoes , any one from this forum and they will be speaking a bit differently.

-- Tue Aug 12, 2014 2:06 pm --

theglassbuddha wrote:I think the same! I feel MORE alienated from people when they talk about it like they can solve the problem if they just knew. I posted on another thread about how hard it is to talk about anyway, and the funny thing is some of the people who have been posting these things I HAVE reached out to a little lately. For eg being invited to things and I've said "sorry, I'm not well at the minute, feeling depressed and don't want to socialise." And all they've said to me is hope you're feeling better soon. But they find out a celebrity has suffered and they're all over it, I guess I'm just not glamorous enough!

I don't mean to rant, because at the end of the day it's about the man who couldn't take life anymore and nothing else. But I agree, I even feel slightly offended that people are discussing his suffering in public when they have no clue.

Its true , as soon as someone within hollywood comes out with a mental illness its all glamorized but in reality ... theres not really many people that give a $#%^.

Please keep this discussion civil everyone -- just a friendly reminder.

itsabipolarlife wrote:these people posting this crap think suicide is this awful act that leaves family heartbroken.

But suicide is an awful act that leaves family heartbroken.

Of course for a sufferer their own life is the most important and the suffering the most unbearable. But this applies to every person. I can't possibly count how many times the only thing that stopped me from killing myself was the thought of the people I would leave behind. My boyfriend. My mother. My brothers. My friends. Hell, people here at Psychforums. I would leave ripples of hurt. Some people would get terribly wounded, some less, some might commit suicide themselves (echo effect).

I'm not in the best period of my life (understatement) and I've been cycling for weeks between "pit of despair" all the way up to "meh" yet I am glad to be alive. And I've had at least four chances not to be.

I see your point about being at that point and yes, he has peace... however, I'm sure his wife and children are devastated

I read an interview with him last night after I heard the news. In the interview he spoke about Christopher Reeve's death and a year after his wife died... He said it must have devastated their children. Granted the children were younger at the time than Williams' children.. but all the same

On a plus side, his death will probably inspire campaigns for depression awareness among celebrity types.

the most peace they have ever felt

I know there are many, many ideas and opinions about whether suicide is a selfish, hurtful act or potentially an act of compassion for self. i'm not going to berate anyone for their personal thoughts on this...i will throw in my 2 cents. Personally, i believe that suicide can be an act of mercy. Yes, it is a selfish act. By its very nature it is "for the self". I think about it this way...if i had end stage cancer and was in a terrible amount of pain with no hope for cure or treatment other than "comfort care" - would i consider euthanasia? Yes. I would. My illness is invisible (unless i'm strung out manic!) and the pain I feel is subjective. It is mine. I know that I will live forever this way, up and down; back and forth; the rollercoaster does not end. I know it's radical but I believe that it should be my decision to provide myself an act of compassion just as I would with any other disease/illness. The only difference that I see is the concept that I SHOULD be better, feel better, find a way to cope, etc, etc, etc. I have lived with my illness for 30 years - this is it. I drew the short straw. Most of my responsibilities are done and once I feel that they are completed - then my decisions are my own for my own self care. I don't want to sound cold or selfish....in fact, i believe it to be a courageous and brave decision. Please don't think that I am currently suicidal. I am not. I'm deep in the throes of my rancid depressive cycle and I wish it would go away and NEVER EVER come back. But, it does, it will and there is nothing I can do to prevent that. So, why shouldn't it be my own decision to do the very same thing I would do if I was faced with living out my life in terrible pain from cancer or some other physical disease? I feel that as long as "I" am okay with it and I have played out ALL of the alternatives then, why not? It should be my choice. I'm ready. Go ahead and sound off on me. I stand my ground though. I've given this deep tought for many years. It simply isn't time and I am not ready....maybe I won't ever be ready. But, the choice should be mine.

I understand completely. I have been torn apart by this for years. If I get Alzheimer's disease, I will not burden my family with my inexorable trip into dementia and death. I will throw a party and everyone I love will be there, and we will all have a chance to say goodbye properly.

I feel the same way about my horrendous depression. I am a burden and difficult to live with. This is an objective fact, but I know that my family shoulders it gladly (they have told me this many times) and everyone helps out. People were there for me when I needed them the most, and it has allowed me to start trusting others once more. Words can't express how indebted I am to them for this. Without them, I would have died in the street.

So I love them far too much to repay their patience and kindness with lifelong trauma. I think I am further away from suicide than I have been in twenty years.

But I never judge people who can't take life anymore. I understand.

Not to long ago, I tried to commit suicide, so I know what it is all about. Even though I made it through, there isnt a day that doesn't go by where I wish to some degree that it had worked. Many people who have depression that attempt it, do it for one reason ot another. For me, it was a way to get away from all that I had lost. In one day, I had lost my job and then my wife wanted to divorce me. For me, I didn't want to live anymore, point blank.

So in the case of Robin Williams, he too must had something going on within his mind that was making him act as he was. In any case he simply didn't want to live any longer. I have seen this type of behavior with other actors and such. They make so many people happy, but there is not enough focus on the entertainer. Look at catherine Zetta Jones and what she goes through. She is Bi Polar. God knows what sort of suffering she goes through.What I am saying here is something within Williams just snapped and it is a shame.

Mark