RIP Robin Williams. Great man, great comedian and actor but in the end another victim to addiction. I heard the news at 6am as my alarm went off and the news started. I only heard the headline before turning it off but was instantly saddened. An hour later on my drive to work I heard the expanded story, how he had been “battling severe depression” and recently “checked himself into a rehab programme” and finally that it was suspected that he’d “taken his own life”.
The rehab I attended 10 years ago this summer had a philosophy that addiction in all its many forms is simply a symptom of depression. In essence the addiction is the sufferers coping mechanism to live with a brain that doesn’t react to stimuli like other peoples do somehow it loses some part of the neurotransmission in the brain and people are unfulfilled and therefore seek other ways to change that. Whether that is fully true or not I don’t know but cases like poor Robin’s do seem to bare it out.
I know there will be many who’ll say “But he had all this wealth, fame, family … etc Why wasn’t that enough?” Because for an addict… it is never enough
Oh it’s so sad. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I know I’m repeating myself, but his death marks today as a sad day.
Such a humbling reminder of how fragile we addicts can sometimes be, especially those who put on a happy face when they are hurting on the inside.
This one really rocked me hard. I guess because I’ve been battling my own depression, I’m an alcohohic and my teenage son has also been diagnosed with depression. It’s everywhere, it’s hereditary and, if left untreated, is fatal.
Thanks for posting this Graham. You said it beautifully.
Sherry
I had to turn the radio off a few times because all the reporting made me so sad. Robin Williams has always occupied a special place in my heart. So many will miss him.