When I was a young intern at the Environmental Protection Agency, there was a very nice, jovial and humorous man who worked in my division. Although, all I can remember now is his first name was Robert and he commuted daily into DC from Fredericksburg, VA. As far as i knew, he was happily married and was a doting father to 3 children. Appearance wise, he reminded me a lot of the actor how played Mel on the Dick Van Dyke Show, except he had a much kinder face. One Friday, as we were all packing up for the weekend, Robert left at his usual time and wished us all to have a great weekend, smiling on his way out. On Monday morning, I got word that Robert committed suicide over the weekend. No one in the office had a clue to any distress in his life that would lead him to this end.
Robin Williams death, along with the recent death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman, is shocking, tragic and in some ways incomprehensible. How do people who seemingly have everything make the decision to end their lives? If these people, who have the best resources in the world at their disposal choose suicide as their final solution, what does the teenager grappling with his/her sexuality, the kid who is getting bullied or is so stressed out because they feel like failures do?
After we all get past the shock and grief of Mr. William's death, we need to take steps to take a close look at our family and friends, reach out to them and try to get them the help they need. It's not always easy since we all have our public and private personas. It's hard to imagine that there are some of us who will wake up one morning and decide to check out of life. Maybe I'm being a Pollyanna, but I don't believe it has to be that way.
If you know someone suffering from depression and they may be contemplating suicide, please put them in touch with a mental health professional. There is also the National Suicide Prevention Hotline http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
Locally, NBC4 has a mental health campaign for suicide prevention and mental health awareness (http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/health/Changing-Minds-255300401.html).
Stay healthy, my friends.
