A little something I wrote about Robin and mental health: Depression; these people arent cowards. I found out about the death of Robin in the early afternoon on Aug. 11th 2014. I was sitting in my living room checking my twitter feed when a post popped up from Anonymous citing the news that Robin Williams had committed suicide. I was highly influenced by Robin Williams, His work meant a lot to me. My first reaction was predictable and in many ways distasteful. I Immediately I posted on Facebook, “one of my favourite comedians is reportedly dead. RIP Robin Williams”. But I was genuinely sad and I was looking for validation. The response on social media seemed to go one of two ways. The first was the most common, abject sadness and condolences. The second was that Mr. Williams was a selfish coward because he left a family behind. The suicide of a comedian, a person who made a living making people laugh, comes as an anomaly to most. Why would make someone who was rich, famous and beloved do something that seemed only imaginable coming from the most forlorn? Why is it someone with access to help and resources do this? Mental health is something that affects almost everyone whether directly or indirectly. Nearly a million people a year kill themselves. Twenty percent of Canadians will personally have issues with mental health. There are double the amounts of deaths to suicide as there are to HIV and Aids in Canada. We need to treat mental health as seriously as physical health. Results don’t come from “pulling up your boot straps” or “putting your big boy pants on”. They come from treatment. I had a family member send me an email that read, “He had three kids: confirms my instinct of his profoundly needy and self-obsessed nature. Good riddance.” This type of thinking is part of the problem. It creates a culture that puts the blame on the people who suffer from mental illness. The people who suffer choose to feel that way, and if they wanted, could be happy. I do agree that mending mental health has a component of choice, but it’s not the choice to be happy. It’s the choice to get help. We need Therapy for mental health, like we need doctors and physiotherapists for our physical health. These people arent self obsessed, they’re self hating. These people arent cowards, they’re braver than we could imagine. They made it that far.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 05:34:53 +0000
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