Friday, August 15, 2014
Bipolar disorder, Depression and Creativity article link
http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/14/opinion/jamison-depression-creativity/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Did he just give up???
Robin Williams. That is who we are all talking about. He was a gifted, some say brilliant artist. First and foremost he was a comedian. He made us all laugh but deep down he was crying. He used his humor to hide his problems. He admitted to having a drinking and drug problem. Yet we hardly ever saw that side of him. We were too busy laughing at him and his incomparable comedy.
I knew Robin Williams suffered from depression. When someone admits to having depression I feel almost a kinship, like, "Wow! They know how I feel." Recently I heard he went for more help. I thought that was a courageous step. He must have done it before, maybe many times, but he obviously needed more. He must have been suffering. It took me a long time to just make the first step to find help. I've had to make a few more since then. It doesn't end after the first few therapist visits and a couple weeks of medication for the recurring and severely depressed.
I can't go into naming all the famous people that said they have or are still have depression but it seems that a lot of them that come to my mind are comedians. Those people that make us smile, laugh and even forget our own problems. Why is that? No, I don't have an answer. I want to know why. Why are the funny so sad? Smokey Robinson's "Tears of a Clown" comes to my mind: "Now if there is a smile on my face/ It's only there trying to fool the public". Maybe Smokey was right on the money. A smile. I've written on this blog about that before. MY biggest way to hide. Every depressive probably has a way to hide their feelings. Comedians joke. Musicians compose. Writers, well they write of course. We can't let the world know we are sad. They will judge us.
It sounds like Mr. Williams battled long and hard with his problems. But, I wonder, did he just give up? He did the ultimate act - taking your own life. The severely depressed think about it. I'll admit it - I have. I have been so low and hopeless that I have thought about ending it all, ending it all to make the PAIN go away. There is so much pain that goes along with depression. Physical and mental. For Mr. Williams to take his life, I can only imagine the pain he was in. One has to battle the pain and win. Some don't though. I wonder if those who could not return from the debilitating feelings of taking your own life just gave up? There is help and if you look deep down - sometimes way, way deep - you can conquer it. Many have and didn't give up. I didn't give up and I wish that someone that made me laugh, Robin Williams, didn't give up either.
I knew Robin Williams suffered from depression. When someone admits to having depression I feel almost a kinship, like, "Wow! They know how I feel." Recently I heard he went for more help. I thought that was a courageous step. He must have done it before, maybe many times, but he obviously needed more. He must have been suffering. It took me a long time to just make the first step to find help. I've had to make a few more since then. It doesn't end after the first few therapist visits and a couple weeks of medication for the recurring and severely depressed.
I can't go into naming all the famous people that said they have or are still have depression but it seems that a lot of them that come to my mind are comedians. Those people that make us smile, laugh and even forget our own problems. Why is that? No, I don't have an answer. I want to know why. Why are the funny so sad? Smokey Robinson's "Tears of a Clown" comes to my mind: "Now if there is a smile on my face/ It's only there trying to fool the public". Maybe Smokey was right on the money. A smile. I've written on this blog about that before. MY biggest way to hide. Every depressive probably has a way to hide their feelings. Comedians joke. Musicians compose. Writers, well they write of course. We can't let the world know we are sad. They will judge us.
It sounds like Mr. Williams battled long and hard with his problems. But, I wonder, did he just give up? He did the ultimate act - taking your own life. The severely depressed think about it. I'll admit it - I have. I have been so low and hopeless that I have thought about ending it all, ending it all to make the PAIN go away. There is so much pain that goes along with depression. Physical and mental. For Mr. Williams to take his life, I can only imagine the pain he was in. One has to battle the pain and win. Some don't though. I wonder if those who could not return from the debilitating feelings of taking your own life just gave up? There is help and if you look deep down - sometimes way, way deep - you can conquer it. Many have and didn't give up. I didn't give up and I wish that someone that made me laugh, Robin Williams, didn't give up either.
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