On Tue, Aug 12, 2014 at 10:25 AM, K.M. Richards <[email protected]> wrote:
> As I listened to the reports of his mental illness and his already > well-known substance abuse problems, a thought came to my mind which I > believe may be the kindest reaction possible: At least he is now free of > his demons. > I understand this sentiment. Of course, from a public health stand point, this is the opposite of the message we like to spread after a well publicized suicide. Killing oneself does not solve any problem, and does not offer liberation from demons. There is evidence that most people who attempt suicide but do not die are eventually glad to still be alive. While a previous suicide attempt is the strongest predictor of eventual death from suicide, it is still true that, I think, more than 80% of people who attempt suicide eventually die from something other than suicide. If Robin Williams had somehow survived yesterday, odds are he would not ever have died from his own actions, and would have had many, many more productive days in store for him - though, of course, as for all of us, a lot of those productive days would still have involved pain and unhappiness. The message anyone who is struggling with depression, or substance abuse, or any other chronic or recurrent painful condition should take from Robin Williams senseless and tragic death is that an hour or a day or a week later, he would have wanted to be alive - to hold his beautiful daughter, to look out at the sun setting over the San Francisco Bay, to laugh and make others laugh. He gave in to some powerful demons at a weak and, frankly, selfish moment, as many of us are tempted to from time to time, which should remind us all to be more careful and hang on a little tighter when our own demons come calling. There are a lot of resources, even for those are not famous and have access to little or no means, to help them get through the blackest moments. Very few counties in the US are without some kind of no or low cost mental health service (yes, the wait times can be long, and the staffing can be of uneven quality and training, but almost always it is helpful, and worth the wait). There are 24 hour crisis lines (yes, those conjure images of bad television after-school specials, but the folks who staff them are genuinely caring, and their help most often helps). There are churches and synagogues and mosques, filled with people who admittedly sometimes make things worse with their narrow judgements and simplistic and rigid understandings, but most of whom also really do want to help. If you are a student there are a ton of people at your institution who want to help, and know how; if you have a job there is at least half a chance your employer has some kind of EAP resource. If anyone is really thinking of killing themselves, they can call 911 and report that - it will generate some potentially embarrassing emergency response, but it will also provide access to trained intervention. The lesson from this is, do not do what Robin Williams did. Choose life, even when it seems a hell of a lot easier not to. -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
