Robin Williams - a brave man...

[sherashera]

Fortunately, you don't have to see any reason why she's doing interviews, because it doesn't concern you.

We're on a chat forum, sharing our points of views! I bet she's getting paid for it.

[ferri]

i think she is giving interviews because she probably felt that the fans should know. there was so much speculation about drugs etc. i'm glad she let everyone know what was the probable cause.

[Bsuds]

i think she is giving interviews because she probably felt that the fans should know. there was so much speculation about drugs etc. i'm glad she let everyone know what was the probable cause.

Me too and even if she is getting paid for interviews who knows what her financial situation is. Maybe she needs the money.
Don't much care as that's none of my business.

As far as RW being a brave man that would not be a true statement as a brave man does not commit suicide. I feel sorry for him that he felt that was the only option he had. Very hard on those left behind.

He will be missed.

[LoneWolf_53]

As far as RW being a brave man that would not be a true statement as a brave man does not commit suicide. I feel sorry for him that he felt that was the only option he had.

That's only your opinion, as you'd have to get inside his head to know where he was at, as well as his motivation to make the choice he did. You can't do that so...................

Very hard on those left behind.

Possibly not nearly as hard as what might have been, had they been forced to watch him go downhill.

It's entirely possible, he subscribed to the theory, short term pain for long term gain, doing what he did to spare his loved ones the agony ahead.

[Bsuds]

That's why Dr assisted suicide needs to be legalized.

[Ford4x4Truck]

it just goes to show money doesn't buy happiness and cannot save your life or that even if you have money that you can get the best of the best treatment and/or find a 'cure'.

it also shows that anyone can struggle. i do not see suicide as selfish because unless you have been there yourself (and more than just a fleeting thought a few times in your life like many have, but REALLY being there), you cannot possibly understand what it is like to be at that point where you see no other way out whether it is to stop the pain you have lived with for so long - years - or to stop the worsening of an already soul sucking, life taking disease that will progress and has no cure. so, to call it selfish, no, it really isn't in situations like that. and often, they feel like they are saving their family/loved ones from having to watch them progress more and/or don't want to burden them with that, so to end their life, they see as a way to preserve the good memories they had with them, not replace them with the bad ones to come.

People here (like 99% of them) don't seem to understand mental illnesses - AT ALL.

Robin Williams maybe wasn't brave, but he was an ill man who saw no other option. It's sad, and mentioning his kids, his career, and his wealth, is entirely irrelevant.

[mysideofthings]

i lost one family member from lung cancer and another from multiple system atrophy (similar to ALS). while they both fought amazing until the end and didn't take their lives even while the diseases slowly stole away theirs, i admired them for NOT going that route because i probably would have if i was in either situation. i also would never have called them selfish if they did. it would have been sad, yes, but knowing what they were facing, how could you honestly sit there and not think about ending your life knowing you have no treatment available after having tried what you can and it failed and/or having to rely on family to take care of you until the end. i recently had another family member have two strokes and has lost the ability (hopefully not forever) to speak and will take probably years to gain back an okay quality of life.

i have struggled with mental health issues. while it's not the same as physical medical issues, it's not really that far off because they can feel terminal, especially after years of struggling and having found no treatment option particularly helpful or having to keep fighting so hard and never knowing when things will be stable again or unstable again.

for anyone who faces a life threatening medical or prolonged severe mental health issue, it should be their choice. after all, it IS their life. they are the one who is living it every day. why should anyone else get a say in whether they live or not just to feel better about themselves? i really do understand wanting to keep a person alive, but at the same time, isn't it selfish to do that when they only are struggling and lose themselves in the process?

[Barney Google]

What a very heart felt and insightful post MySideOfThings...thank you so much for sharing your very personal experiences.

I watched my father deteriorate through Alzheimer's and Dementia. He once begged me to promise him to not let him go through that because I think he realized it was coming. He was once a respected International scientist and authority on nuclear power. Seeing, this once dynamic and driven man deteriorate and my mother and siblings struggle with it was horrid on all of us. He didn't want that for himself and he sure didn't want it for his family. Even though that was many years ago it still makes me angry and frustrated at times because I am kinder and more capable of taking responsibility for the animals I have in my care than I was for my father. When we have an animal here on the farm that is in pain and or struggling to live and is fearful, confused and disorientated and the quality of life is completely gone...when all medical intervention is exhausted...I do what I know is the right thing to do. I owe it to those creatures that are in my care and I feel it is my responsibility to do that for them...
I am sorry my father didn't have that same option.

[janalta]

I'm not one to follow the rich and famous, can probably only identify about half of today's top celebrities - but Robin Williams death affected me.
Part of it being deep respect for the man he was and what he gave to the world.
A big part of it being a deep seated empathy, understanding and compassion for what he was going through...and a profound knowledge of just how he felt and why he chose to end his life.

Those who say that suicide is the easy way out, cowardly and selfish have absolutely no understanding whatsoever of what depression is. it is highly likely that you also have no idea of what it is like to have your world turned upside down by debilitating, life changing, degenerative health issues.

Suicide is not a selfish act. No one who takes their own life is a healthy, well adjusted individual. Their minds do not see things the same way a healthy person does.
When you are at that point in your life, there are no selfish thoughts. You truly and honestly, with every ounce of your being, believe that your loved ones are better off without you. You are not doing it to hurt people, you are doing it to spare them. You feel like a failure, a burden.
I empathize completely with his thoughts and actions.

I very recently lost my mother. She suffered a stroke years ago and her health continued to deteriorate every year. She could no longer take care of herself. She needed to be bathed and dressed. She couldn't walk. She was completely dependant on others to care for her every need.
She spent the last year in a residential care home, gravely ill. She became despondent, depressed, lost interest in life. No joy, no happiness. she was bed ridden - suffering from repeated TIAs, strokes, seizures, her organs were slowly shutting down. She couldn't eat and barely drank anything. I sat and watched her suffer every day..withering away until she weighed less than 75 lbs. A final stroke left her unable to speak, afraid, in pain, suffering, in and out of awareness of her surroundings and those around her.
She lived for 8 days after all fluids were discontinued. Her death was slow, painful, and horrendous.

If we had sat by and watched an animal suffer that way...we would be charged with abuse and cruelty.
it is illegal to allow an animal to suffer, in ;pain, unable to eat or drink for more than a week.
But we allow humans to suffer daily.

I sustained an injury four years ago which left me with significant nerve damage. The nerves in my spinal cord are slowly dying and I am told that nothing more can be done. I continue to live as normal a life as I can...most people have no idea that there is anything wrong with me - as long as they don't see the 12" scar from the back of my skull down to the bottom of my neck. No ones knows that I live in constant pain.
Doctors can't tell me how much worse it will get. Just that nothing can be done to stop it.
Depression ? ya think ?!

I can tell you with 100% certainty that there isn't a chance in hell that I will ever suffer through what my mother lived. I simply am not the kind of person who could live like that...ever.
I will never make my children watch me suffer and slowly become an invalid. I will never get to the point where any of them have to feed me or carry me to the bathroom.

I want them to remember me as being active, creative, giving and loving...I never want them to have the memories of me that I now live with every day of my own mother.

If that is your idea of selfish and cowardly, so be it...but it is my choice, when the time comes.

[sherashera]

There is nothing brave about suicide. Robin left a family and his children to mourn his loss and to be without their dad. Not something to celebrate. Michael J Fox, now there is a man who is a hero and who is brave. He is bringing attention to his disease and raising millions with his charities and helping others. His family has him to treasure and to hold. Don't get me wrong, I love Robin, and his legacy, but in the end not something to be admired. His family will always wonder, what if.

[Silverstarqueen]

We have not walked a mile in Robin William's shoes. I can't believe people criticizing him for how ever he decided to handle his illness. Dementia isn't just losing your memory or getting your dates a bit mixed up. I have helped three close family members with different types of dementia. It can literally drive a person crazy, they can lose control of bodily functions, face extreme anxiety over the loss of their ability just to cope with getting through the day, may not understand why their loved ones can't be right there 24 hours a day. So unless you have gone through it yourself, or taken a loved one through it, save your judgements of both the victim and their family. You have no idea.
When it gets to be your turn, you can take it on however you like, but at some point you will not get to make the decisions on where you live or what you are allowed to do, it can be a waking nightmare. So I wish you luck.

If someone chooses not to go through that, or they wish to exit this life with at least some small part of their personal dignity, that is their business and no one else's. It is also selfish of family members to force someone to go on, who has had enough of this life.

[Fancy]

There is nothing brave about suicide. Robin left a family and his children to mourn his loss and to be without their dad. Not something to celebrate. Michael J Fox, now there is a man who is a hero and who is brave. He is bringing attention to his disease and raising millions with his charities and helping others. His family has him to treasure and to hold. Don't get me wrong, I love Robin, and his legacy, but in the end not something to be admired. His family will always wonder, what if.

Aren't the diseases of the two men drastically different?

[janalta]

There is nothing brave about suicide. Robin left a family and his children to mourn his loss and to be without their dad. Not something to celebrate. Michael J Fox, now there is a man who is a hero and who is brave. He is bringing attention to his disease and raising millions with his charities and helping others. His family has him to treasure and to hold. Don't get me wrong, I love Robin, and his legacy, but in the end not something to be admired. His family will always wonder, what if.

No, suicide is not 'brave', but neither is it cowardly or selfish.
No one is celebrating the fact that Robin committed suicide.

Yes, Michael J Fox is going on with Parkinson's...which does NOT affect the mind, just the body.
He is obviously not struggling with the other disease that Robin Williams had - depression.

[Silverstarqueen]

People who do not know what Lewy Body Dementia is, might want to read this in order to understand why someone might want to end their life. I doubt that Michael J Fox would be appearing in TV dramas if he had a mental disease like this.

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/lewy ... story.html

[LoneWolf_53]

There is nothing brave about suicide. Robin left a family and his children to mourn his loss and to be without their dad. Not something to celebrate. Michael J Fox, now there is a man who is a hero and who is brave. He is bringing attention to his disease and raising millions with his charities and helping others. His family has him to treasure and to hold. Don't get me wrong, I love Robin, and his legacy, but in the end not something to be admired. His family will always wonder, what if.

You might want to read up on exactly what diseases these two had, before passing judgment.

You're basically comparing apples and oranges, as if they're the same thing.