My thoughts around Robin Williams and his untimely and very sad end

Hello, this is my second attempt to consider the story around the death of Robin Williams. It’s a very serious issue that has become clear through the story. Serious issue being around suicide and people dealing with a diagnosis of dementia and what dementia throws at them beyond the diagnosis, if they come to terms with it. The story of Robin Williams is a very sad one and indeed his life was a mixture sadness and joy and he gave a great deal of joy and entertainment to so many people. But beyond that like so many fragile individuals he had so many demons that he tried to contend with and I guess dementia was just one too many for him. I do understand that. I do understand the idea that he made a decision in his life which was to bring it to an end before the disease got to the point where it quickly overcame him.

I think that his wife was very brave. I would like to know and be interested to know what her motive was behind moving from the diagnosis of parkinson’s causing the death through to it being dementia with lewy bodies. I hope that the story serves to give more awareness around the complex issues of living with dementia and the impact it has on one through causing people to be depressed and I guess ultimately – thankfully in a small number of cases – leading to suicide. I think the suicide angle is around keeping control as well, when you feel that your life is beyond your control and that I guess is the ultimate in establishing control. As indeed in the film Still Alice, you know she considered that and she made the plans to end her life at the point where she felt she could.

I think I’d like to also close by also remembering Robin Williams as the guy in the films, the Good Morning Vietnam, the Mork and Mindy and all the other fantastic films that he starred in. Not least of which was Hook which actually I quite enjoyed. I’ve got his biography of him which is also very, illuminates on his life which was very interesting indeed.

So that’s my thoughts around Robin Williams and his untimely and very sad end.