Robin Williams Suicide

Great Essays
Richard McKearney Ms. De Luca-Hawk/Ms. Aubee Literature/Period A Robin Williams, Lewy Body Dementia, Depression, and Suicide On August 11, 2014, American actor and comedian, Robin Williams took his own life, he was 63 years old. Leaving the world devastated, saddened, confused and eagerly awaited the autopsy results. The question on everybody's mind was, why would this extremely gifted comedian and actor who won an oscar take his own life when he had so much to live for? In the weeks following his suicide we discovered that prior to his death was Williams had been suffering from Lewy Body Dimentia and severe depression. Severe depression, a disorder that if not diagnosed early can be crippling and have tragic results. Another factor that contributed …show more content…
Robin Williams LBD symptoms along with decades of struggling with severe depression had proved to be too much for Williams and believing the only way for peace was taking his own life, which he ultimately succeeded in doing. Robin Williams was born in Chicago on 7/21/1951, he credits his mother for his sense of humor and was always trying to make her laugh, she was his muse in his early life and always encouraged him. In his youth, Robin Williams attended several different schools, he was bullied and played alone due from being overweight, factors which all which had lasting results on the young Williams. He also was not the 'class clown' like many would have assumed he would have been, actually, he was very shy and studious and at one point was the president of his class. The Williams family moved to California and Robin attended a couple of different high schools, it was during this time that he began getting involved in theater and he caught the acting bug. Upon graduation, Williams enrolled at Claremont Men's College in California to study political science but he then decided to pursue acting so he dropped out of the school and never looked …show more content…
Many sufferers view depression as a sign of weakness and they are afraid they will be judged, mocked and discriminated against, Robyn Williams was no exception to this rule. He stated in 2003 that "I was shameful, did stuff that caused disgust that's hard to recover from" which is why many people who suffer from depression will try to mask their depression and hide it from others. Sufferers are embarrassed and afraid others with depression would discover the truth. As we learned several weeks after Williams death, his abusive behaviors were all things Robin Williams displayed and his pain was too great so drugs and alcohol seemed to be his only answer to ease this pain. He began drinking and using drugs heavily in the 1970's and one of Williams agents said he had been "battling severe depression of late" and he then relapsed which eventually lead him to seek rehabilitation. Some people who suffer from depression will even seek out certain careers in order to keep them distracted from their depression and Williams even used depression and disabilities in his comedy routine. My mother has a good friend who was in the comedy/entertainment business in York City in the 1990's. "What to say about Robin Williams? So sad. I Never met him, but had friends that

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