Robin Williams found dead at home

leigh_boy said:
it also doesn't mean its not selfish to kill your self, and how it will effect others and their mental health.
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That's true, but sometimes you need to put yourself first and that's not a bad thing.

If I was terminally ill and wanted to end the pain, I accept that it's a selfish act and that other people may find that difficult to accept, but that's not going to stop me doing it and I don't think that's immoral.
 
People saying what he did is a selfish act clearly have no idea of just how depression affects people, and what people will do/say/think when its at its worst.

He may well have been on of the funniest entertainers on the planet, but deep down inside he was clearly in pain and saw no way out of it.
 
estebanrey said:
Maybe the problem is people think the word "selfish" is inherently a bad and sinful thing.

I do think killing yourself if selfish by definition, however I don't think selfishness is necessarily a bad thing.

I am of the opinion that everyone is selfish and if we weren't our species would have died out a long time ago.
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Agreed. Selfish is a bad word and it shouldn't be.

Certain kinds of being selfish are inherently bad. That is all it is.
 
Elrein said:
Let's get this very clear, he didn't die he committed SUICIDE.



There's a massive difference!
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Let's get this clear, he suffered from severe depression which is an illness, this illness has taken him to the point of suicide. He didn't jump from a building because he lost millions trading in the stock market and couldn't handle the consequences of his actions, that is selfish. Cutting and hanging yourself isn't the sign of someone that is well. When will people get this? Honestly.
 
My point still stands regardless of some pre existing condition

Maybe all the drugs and alcohol in the 80's and 90's is what screwed him up and what actually drove him to suicide was him trying to live his life without the chemicals.
 
leigh_boy said:
it also doesn't mean its not selfish to kill your self, and how it will effect others and their mental health.
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You do understand that the logic of people suffering to breaking point is so twisted that the entire idea of selfishness is rendered almost obsolete? Often, their thinking is so skewed that they are genuinely convinced that their own existence is so toxic that everyone around them, including those closest, would genuinely benefit from them not being around anymore.

That selfishness you speak of thus becomes a measure of courage: fighting against your very being -- the biological imperative that we all have to live -- to complete the act of self-termination with the ultimate goal being what you are convinced is the right thing to do: relieving everybody of a burden.
 
Elrein said:
My point still stands regardless of some pre existing condition

Maybe all the drugs and alcohol in the 80's and 90's is what screwed him up and what actually drove him to suicide was him trying to live his life without the chemicals.
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Yes, possibly.
 
Is it not selfish to expect somebody to continue living in circumstances which they find intolerable because their death would have an adverse impact on you? How vain does a person need to be to believe that they have a right to insist on suffering for their benefit, or that they have any any moral claim to dictate when a person is allowed to die on their own terms?

If it is deplorable to some to end a life when the ending causes suffering, why is it not equally deplorable to extend one in the same circumstances?
 
All this thread shows me is some people have no idea how depression impacts an individual, either themselves or someone close to them. It is mostly people who are yet to face depression who seem most vociferous in their argument that his act was selfish or that it was his choice. When you have a black on white view of the world, I can understand how ignorance frames your argument, but frankly it also makes it pretty worthless. An opinion formed from ignorance is so often no more than a noise for the sake of having a voice. It will surprise some who today have never experienced depression that one day it might well smack you in the face without ever expecting it, understanding it or appreciating it. Some of you may also take your own life, probably without any thought as the impact it has on anyone and the selfishness of that act, if that is your current perspective, won't cross your mind.

I think Troy Mcclure has the best book on depression....."Get Confident Stupid". Kind of sums it up for me. The Simpsons, so clever sometimes.
 
RIP.

Also can't help thinking there is a certain poignancy about this when recalling what the central storyline in "What Dreams May Come" was about.
 
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