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The preliminary coroner’s report from Marin County, CA, states that Robin Williams died from asphyxiation from hanging in an “apparent” suicide attempt. Leaving legalities and the final autopsy aside, his death has caused public discourse to focus on the taking of one’s own life. Most individuals can’t understand how a person of his stature would end it all, so there are questions that need to be answered.

This is a painful loss. The magnitude can be seen on social services like Facebook, where people from all walks of life are in mourning. It’s a loss that deserves more than the answer, “He suffered from depression”, just like with any other suicide. While that’s probably true with Williams, the statement makes it too easy to wave off the cause and effect. Just a little extra knowledge can broaden awareness, and hopefully save some lives.

In 2011, almost 40,000 suicides were reported, making it the 10th leading cause of death. More suicide stats can be found here. It’s a big number, but it still means the odds are against you ever losing someone to suicide or ending your own life. Since this isn’t an uplifting topic, those who have never met a grieving family only discuss it when an event like this occurs. For a person who hasn’t lived with it, depression is also a mystery.

It’s difficult to understand how someone can’t get passed a feeling of sadness. Friends and family try to cheer them up or hug them to happiness. Having suffered from mild depression, this is often appreciated, and is more often a waste of time. There’s an underlying emotional apathy, among many other doom and gloom feelings, that blocks happiness and contentment. Therapy can teach sufferers how to live an enjoyable life with work and family, and how to process feelings. That’s the important part; processing feelings. Sometimes, that can take years of therapy along with medications. But it’s well worth it.

Suicidal Ideation is a part of the depression experience, and can creep up at any time. This is why therapy is so important. Have you ever said or thought, “What’s the use?” under any circumstance? Imagine having that feeling about everything, all day long. It doesn’t necessarily make one want to take their own life, but it does make one feel okay about it. Ideation usually ends where intent and planning begins for a suicide attempt. We can get into the clinical reasons for this in a different article, because the term has become pretty loosely defined. This is just a way to explain the basic concept.

Signs that Suicide is Being Contemplated

There are a few signs that someone is planning a suicide attempt, and it’s rarely “I’m going to kill myself and you’ll all be sorry!” A real warning sign is if the person lays out a specific plan, rather than a threat. In terms of feelings, they will more likely say “I see no way out of this” rather than “I want to end it all”. Of course all such statements should be met with concern, although the false alarms become pretty transparent when you know what to look for.

A big sign for someone suffering from depression is if they suddenly begin to show signs of recovery or relief, but for no therapeutic or explainable reason. Many who have suicidal plans will review and update their wills, give away valuable items, verify insurance plans are up to date, and may be more frivolous with cash. It’s like they’ve seen the light at the end of the tunnel, and know that the pain will soon end.

This is not a pretty picture, and it isn’t meant to be. Suicide means the end of someone’s life, and there is no going back. It isn’t always preventable, but the pain of loss makes those left behind feel like they could have done something. In most cases, they did all they know. Hopefully, the loss of Robin Williams to an apparent suicide, and this article, will lead people to learn a bit more about depression before they meet it face to face.

If you know someone suffering from even a mild case of depression, please get them into treatment. They will most-likely feel some relief after the first therapy session.

Here is the link to Suicide Prevention. Please contact them now if you think you or a loved one is making end of life plans, and stop the process.

“Robin Williams 2011a (2)” by Eva Rinaldi → Flickr: Robin Williams – → This file has been extracted from another image: File:Robin Williams 2011a.jpg.. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.