I have clinical depression, but it is kept in abeyance by playing string bass, blogging, photoshopping and 50 mg of Zoloft a day. I am a bit angry with Robin Williams for killing himself. There are almost no daily life problems, financial or otherwise, that can't be solved with some effort and optimism.

Oh yeah, and I suffer from liberalphobia, fear of liberals. Fortunately, the disease is not progressive.

Awesome you. Clever ending.

Then you should know better than to judge him. Imagine topping off your depression with news that you now will be deteriorating from an incurable disease. Of course I'm not advocating suicide, but at least I'll have compassion for this man or hope we can find out more about depression and what else we can do about it.

There is no excuse for suicide, so I will judge him. He hurt a lot of people with this act.

Which I doubt was his intention. People with severe depression honestly think people will be better off without them.

Also, there are still people that would judge you for taking the Zoloft. Educate people, don't judge or stigmatize.

My anger at Williams is somewhat selfish, in that I will miss his contributions to film making. Also, do you believe non-stigmatization of suicide will prevent suicide, or create more of it? I wouldn't want to give the message that suicide is just a harmless, personal choice, so go for it. As far as anyone judging me for a prescribed medication, I could care less what ignoramuses think.

Some people have no sense of humor.

You are correct, however, that fear of liberals is not a phobia. A phobia is an irrational fear.

To the extent that you actually have any. Thoughts, that is.

Richard. May I call you Dick, because you are a dick. My discussion is relevant to your discussion, Dick.

While depression is a serious thing to deal with, somehow I find it strange that this is getting so much press coverage when we have so many service members coming home so mentally upset from war horrors. We hear nothing about their accomplishments. Our priorities are misplaced.

And PTSD is ignored on a pandemic scale - not just military although they make up the major portion of those who need acute help - but also abused men and women who go through abuse after abuse after abuse not knowing where the disconnects are.

It's not just "choices" it's others ability to lie - and to make another believe that they will not "do it again".

Abused people anywhere just need someone to say - you need to get out - and then actually have someone help them to do so.

Many of us have no one... not parents (dead), not family, and not friends who are in so many states and out ot touch with other's lives...

The blown-all-to-hell-military-pukes were trotted out for our edification when it was Bush-Lied-People-Died time. Now that we are in Nobel Peace Prize Winner time, the journalists and editors of the country have no further need to inform us of the horrors of war. Oh, yes, we are in a war.

If the death of a celebrity brings attention to something that affects millions of Americans while politicians ignore the need to treat it, then I'm okay with it.

Yes, depression is a serious condition. Many people think you can simply dispense with it by the force of your own will. Other ignoramuses blame the medications used to treat it.

More and more research is out there regarding low seratonin levels and no one knows yet why some have less than others. I just feel sorry for people too paranoid and stubborn to believe the medical field...especially when we've been confronted with more and more mental health problems over the past few years.

BTW, none of my words were meant to sound snarky. I'm glad you are healthy and positive and hope everything continues to go well.

Rampant depression in my family. Some have beat it, some gave up and exist as the walking dead, or bedridden as it were. I blame massive hormone fiddling since the Pill circa 1969, the cancer that is feminism, the ever encroaching soft tyranny welfare state we live under, wars and more wars for the ungrateful and stupid, and the utter cluelessness of Americans as to how good we have (had) it compared to the rest of the world and completely screwed it all up.

I can't blame Robin for checking out. But I do so wish he had stayed. A beautiful man who deserves to be honored - and to all the self important idiots who spout the obvious: 'There's more important things going on in the world' - well, that's disingenuous cr@p. Honoring the dead takes nothing away from anything else - it's what makes us civilized. Besides, the people who say that sh-t don't give a d@mn about anything else either - all sound and fury signifying nothing.

I suffered from depression but I was too stubborn to admit that I had a problem , things got worse after I hit a rough spot in my marriage , one day me and my wife got into a big fight and she was about to leave I tried to hold her back but she hit me in the face , I went to the bedroom , took out my gun and shot myself in the chest .
I did not know that my wife actually had come back into the house shortly before I pulled the trigger and this is what saved me that day because she called the cops and ambulance when she heard the shot .
Three things happened that day , I lost my spleen , I found the lord and I realized that I had a problem and needed help !
After getting out of the hospital I went on paxil and got regular counseling , I also started going to church and study the word of god .
I was on meds for 11 years , now I am off meds for over 2 years , I life a happy and balanced life and I learned to deal with many things in a different way !
Depression is a very bad thing , something you cant deal with yourself , you need help not only from medical professionals but also from god and your family !

Yeah, we have all heard about Robin Williams suicide. Now leave the man and his family alone. Isn't there real news you could cover instead? I don't know... maybe something about 10's of thousands of invaders coming across our Southern border, a little skirmish in the Middle East, Hamas violating yet another cease fire, Russia invading Ukraine, China taking islands near Vietnam and Philippines. something?

Has there been no coverage of the border crisis? Am I missing something? There's tons of coverage on the border, the middle east and everything you mentioned. Why do some folks get so testy when offered a breather from it all? (No offense) - especially to simply remember a man who spent his life making other people laugh and cry while raising millions for charity (especially for Vietnam Vets) - all while being eaten alive by a nasty disease himself. Why can't we just honor a fellow American? I don't get it.

The Story of the Fisher King.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

This is a tough one . . growing up post baby-boomers, I witnessed depression in my own family of ten, siblings mostly my seniors, but we never had all these doctors and pharmaceuticals to contend with and we survived - no meds or Psyche Dr's. I think meds are part of the problem, as we are all being used as guinea pigs for the greater good of Science . . I could never judge Williams, or anybody else for doing what they feel needed to release the demons; I can only speak for myself and feel faith in God has taken me this far. Life is tough and it takes a lot of energy to get through the toughest of times. I know you cannot expect to go it alone. God Bless!

Faith in God. That's a great, good thing.

Depression meds cause issues because they need to be upped every few years...and whenever people start feeling better, they tend to stop taking their meds.

Anyone with depression, any mental illness, or afraid of any mental degenerative disease (like dementia, forgetfulness, Alzheimer, Parkinson, schizophrenia, and others), please read the book of Dr. Abram Hoffer - on supplementing current medical prescription with high dosage of Niacin. It has helped many and help them control and regain their lives.

I just read this whole article.....

Now, I'm depressed because of wasting 3 minutes of my life......

Needless to say, three minutes you'll never get back . .

Mental illness in america is handled so poorly, largely because of the machine surrounding the treatments from big pharma and lack of funding for processes to identify problems in school aged children.

If evaluations for school age reviews (1st grade,5th grade,11th grade) could be done anonymously like aids testing it would reduce some of the privacy issues and shame factor associated with mental illness.

The reality is we can't inoculate (or cure) mental diseases, we have to diagnose and provide functional treatments.

betsy is right about one thing, having interpersonal relationships that are important to you can be stabilizing.

SUICIDE AND DEPRESSION ARE NOT DISEASES (FOR CONSERVATIVE EARS)...SUICIDE
AND DEPRESSION ARE NOT A CRIME (FOR LIBERAL ATTORNEYS LOOKING TO START
A NEW INDUSTRY). SUICIDE AND DEPRESSION ARE SYMPTOMS. See Dr. Daniel Amen

Hanged vs Hung. So many get it wrong.

This is horrible and I’m sorry Weigel and Tabin have endured these
mental issues. And good for them for having the presence of mind to
check themselves in when they knew they needed help. But no, I really didn’t want to know all this.

Well, that's your problem. Robin Williams was bipolar. He'd been treated in psychiatric hospitals. He was on medications to control his manic/depressive swings. He certainly knew enough about his disorder to have done what Weigel and Tabin did: get himself to a psychiatric hospital and get help.

It takes a great deal of strength, courage and personal responsibility to do that. Williams' suicide was a tragedy in the classical sense: He died because of a flaw in his character.

1. I don't have Depression. It's afflicted people in my family for all my life, but I don't have it. 2. I know the routine. Don't waste my time telling me how special you are. Take your Lithium or your Prozac and then get your ass back to work.

If he killed himself because he was terminally ill with cancer would you have been okay with it? I guess some of you don't understand that depression is an illness.

You know what makes me sad? People like Robin Williams who kill themselves.
Maybe we should chug on over to mamby pamby land and maybe we can find them some courage to appreciate what they have.

I wonder that too. He has/had SO MUCH! Enough money to live the rest of his life on heroin, cocaine, or drunk or whatever he wanted to dull the pain that is life. Enough money to go to rehab a billion times, pay the finest doctors and still live the life of imperfection.

So did a lot of wealthy people. Lack of money isn't the problem and material items aren't the solution.

We *all* have bouts of depression. But unlike the cowardly Robin Williams, we don't kill ourselves. It's usually taboo to speak ill of the dead, but Robin Williams took the easy way out, like cowards usually do. He should not be celebrated and given a hero like goodbye.

and you knew him personally to ascertain this, I'm sure... The fact is, that unless you are IN that person's brain who is suicidal and can experience what they are experiencing, there is no way of possibly knowing that. People love to project their idea of the world upon others, pontificate on their moral character and criticize it, because it makes them feel better about things over which they have no control.... understandable, for sure, but the humility required to realize that for one's own self is in short supply, as evidenced by the judgmental posts on this issue.

To: The Daily Caller
From: A regular visitor.
Subject: Story content vs. comment content

Example follows, quoted from your story above:
"Better still, go to lunch and leave your iPhone or BlackBerry in your computer bag. In fact, leave your f***ing ugly laptop bag at home."

If I may be so bold, though somewhat in fear of seeing this comment detained, how is it that the f-word above is okay for you to toss out here but if one of your guests does, their comment never appears?

NOTE: Asterisks (***) were used in place of missing letters to prevent immediate detainment... though they are very much used in story above.

Just curious how that works...

Sincerely,
Mike - Grouchy Old Fart (Is 'fart' okay to say?)

...

Oh good.

Another person who doesn't understand that many of us don't have close friends - and it's because of a dysfunctional government mentality that must move people ever 16 months to ever six-ten years...

For me, it was mostly every two to three years for over 33 years, not exactly the way to build any kind of community.

The government doesn't want people connected to one another, believe me, they want to make the moves as expensive as possible to bankrupt military personnel - especially if they are young and lose a child overseas - then see how little your miltiary cares about those who, just like the men and women who serve, move as families, as support for jobs and for the hosiptals, as admins in our miltiary civilian service and yet we are thrown to the wolves if we EVER get divorced from someone in the miltiary.

Wake the heck up.

Well, I hate to tell ya, but when you are forced to move every three years in the military, you are asking for a lack of continunity in life, health care, FRIENDS, and all other aspects of life.

Those who uproot children multiple times, making them the "new kid" on the block or in town over and over and OVER again, are abusers - period.

Abuse can hide when parents move a lot - and mine at that time were abusive and neglectful - so much so that I was dumped onto an uncaring "Aunt" by marriage to my Uncle who was "only" a half-brother to my mother. Almost two years of THAT abuse - and then back to even worse abuse - until I married at 16 - a Navy recruit... Guess what article writers? You don't have a clue why we are in such dire straits and we are...

If you don't know anyone and you are in an abusive situation, you have no one and nothing to go to, not even the government or churches, which push abused women back into the abuse by their neglect and lack of care for those abused. You think there's an "agency" out here that really cares? They DO NOT.

The cycle can be broken, of depression, of negligence and of ignorance even of "educated" ignorance, but it will never move out of our lives until we start educating adults who will and do ignore sexual, emotional, and physical abuse and neglect.

Depressed?
Suck it up and get over yourself. Find someone with real troubles and help them out instead of wallowing in your own self pity.
You will find yourself feeling better.

The problem is that one day you wake up and no matter what you can't do anything. You can't shake it off, you can't do anything about it, except recognize it and try to muddle through it until you feel better again. There's no self pity, it's an illness.

I so agree with the premise of this article. I refuse to join the alternative universe of faceless relationships. Even if one is a member of my family, a friend, a neighbor, or a foe, I have made it very clear, my relationship with that person is predicated on more than cloud chatter. When they have the time and the inclination to chat, catch up on what's happening or make plans for a personal get together, call me. Otherwise, my life goes on and I understand the consequences for my decision.
Not one time in all the conversation about the William's suicide and his personal problems did anyone every mention his faith. I can't imagine my life would be like if I did not have a personal relationship with God. Just thought it was interesting.

"Strange" Ms. Rothstein didn't mention the RIGHTwing ghouls ...like Rush Limbaugh using Williams' death to attack "liberals" or the anti-abortion group claiming that Williams' depression was caused by a girlfriend having an abortion when he was in college.

Stossel should do what Williams did. What a miserable life! At some point, the John Wayne way of handling your problems should be employed- just keep it to yourself.

One has to wonder if a lot of the problems we see are generated by people who need the attention.

I get the depression, I get bi-polar, I've know people who have both. But as some point you have to grab yourself by the lapels and either accept your fate or get over it.

And the author is right, we aren't helping matters by creating virtual worlds of "friends". bad, bad juju.

Also, at the risk of sounding less than sensitive, why is it that every failing female star seems to remember being abused at a young age or something?

This "look at me and my dysfunction" era has to come to an end, right? Please? God, I miss Wayne.

What do you actually know about John Wayne....except from his movies and that he was a political rightwinger?

What a bitchy article. I was no fan of Robin Williams, however, I am sorry he was in so much pain he took his own life, and I feel sorry for his family. The good that will come out of it is the story telling and people being more open and honest w/their struggles of depression, and most likely numerous foundations and organizations will be set up in his memory to help other people. Hopefully they will help, and not be some 501c3 scam to make money off of other people's suffering. I have had 8 suicides w/in my circle of friends and family, it is nothing to make fun of, mock, or take lightly.

Shame on this woman for writing such crap to seek attention to be different from all the rest. Why does she think any of us want to hear what she has to say? Good grief.