Robin Williams death by suicide is so sad. IMHO most deaths by suicide are entirely preventable. The frames we put around depression contribute to the conditions fatal power. We call it a form of madness, or a mental illness, a disease. IN most cases it is neither. Depression is what researchers call a least common pathway which means it is a syndrome resulting from any of multiple causes. The most prevalent is social isolation, in which case if there is a disease it is social, not individual. But among creative people like Williams (and Jonathan Winters, Lenny Bruce, and Van Gogh, Virginia Wolfe, and Wittgenstein), the cause is an outstripping of cultural channels by creative impulses. The central nervous system has to re-organize to discover new forms for latent expressivity. Hence all conventional behavioral dynamisms break down, resulting in severe psychic pain, frustration, loss of self. If we call this an illness, or castigate it as madness, this only adds to the horrendous burden. If we call it genius, prescribe a time out, honor and acknowledge it as a great gift to life, and simply give the creative process time to come to fruition, new growth will lead to new contributions and achievements. Creative depression is the birth pain of breakthrough.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 18:20:23 +0000
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