So heres the thing… Robin Williams is someone who had multiple avenues by which people came to know him. Some of us are old enough to remember Happy Days and Mork & Mindy. Some knew his standup. Others first knew him thanks to Aladdin and literally grew up with his genius -- fallible flawed genius, but genius. And laughter is so important, and is attached to the memories that are most important to us. We want, and we need, to hold on to good things. People who can make us laugh are highly valued, even we dont know them personally. Those people touch our lives and our hearts. They attach us to important parts of our shared humanity. Then theres the flipside, the darker side of this. Far too many of us have been on that edge. Far too many of us are beating back the lying brain weasels of depression or the ugly lure of addictions every day. We know what its like. We know how hard, how exhausting it is. We know that these diseases sometimes feel too big and too much to fight. We relate. We wish we didnt. It hits home. It makes people feel unsafe. So criticizing people for mourning Robin Williams, for feeling sad that another fellow warrior couldnt continue his fight, for being angry that this disease proved fatal once again is some petty, shitty policing. We say time and time again that people can be concerned about multiple things simultaneously. Being upset about this doesnt mean that people arent upset about other things. Lets dont pretend otherwise. And certainly lets dont act like people are wrong for feeling their feelings or expressing them. Our societys propensity for stigmatizing emotions is part of what makes having depression so damn hard to begin with. We dont need to replicate that oppression. Not here, not now, not ever. Remember that if youre in crisis, there are always people available to help. 1- 800-273-8255 & suicidepreventionlifeline.org
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 01:39:59 +0000