I thought it was very interesting what Dennis Miller said about Robin Williams.
I would disagree quite significantly. He's an entertainer, people like him are frequently depressed and often feel forced to hide it.
Average Joe Bloggs is.... a computer programmer, he turns up to a gathering of friends and no one automatically expects him to entertain everyone so he's just himself, when he's down he can be open about it.
Robin Williams goes anywhere, everywhere, every second of his life people expect to see Robin Williams that they see on TV. He's having a bad day but he goes out and fans ask for a picture and he feels compelled to be "on" for them. People like him would probably more frequently than anyone else not be honest, not show their depression publicly and to friends and even family, but be "on" because everyone expects him to be funny and happy.
Expectations of people can weigh you down and that can't be worse than when you're a comedian of the style in particular than Williams was. Everyone wants to see happy funny energetic Williams. He's not a dark comic who can out his depression on stage because that wasn't his act. He might feel like hell but 30 times a day he might turn on acting happy. Acting happy when you are anything but is, tiring. From someone who has suffered from deep depression and isn't expected to be the life of a party as standard, I still felt mentally tired by being out with friends. I hid my depression, often through alcohol.
Actually, I wouldn't say I was a comedian in any way, but from 16-24 I hid behind alcohol and actually did always try and be the party guy. I was nervous and shy sober and depressed and didn't want to show I was unhappy so would get drunk, I turned on not a comedian act but a "fake" personality. It's mentally tiring, to the point of exhaustion. I would go out, get battered, often black out drunk, be the party guy but the next morning I would be shattered beyond just a hangover(but that didn't help) but I'd barely feel like seeing anyone all day, I missed lectures and stayed in bed often for a couple days. Then would go out and do the same thing, always hiding how I felt.
I would think in general that someone like Williams was in the worst possible situation where everyone everywhere he went expected his character, he was always acting. Going for a coffee probably 50 people would say hi and he might feel compelled to say something funny, or simply smile when he was unhappy on the inside. It's draining.
So in terms of the most happy appearing person can be depressed then we all could be... wrong. What we show on the outside and how we feel on the inside are very different but his very statement that Williams was a guy who seemed happy, is exactly what I'm saying, he expected and only remembers Williams seeming happy.
I suggested as much previously but I thought for this to come at the age and time it was that a recent diagnosis of something degenerative or terminal was incredibly likely. In his position, unhappy, a weight of expectation, probably constantly exhausted... the very idea of getting worse every day till he died... is both terrifying, and in context of who he was. If this was a guy who felt compelled to be on and happy and funny..... and this was difficult every day for maybe decades already and now with parkinsons would effectively be more difficult every day till he died..... I can completely understand why he did it.
Something everyone should learn to do, REGARDLESS OF HOW A FRIEND SEEMS< ask genuinely, deeply and heartfelt how your friend is from time to time. Just maybe every couple months even if they seem as happy as you've ever thought they've been, let them know you are there, will always be there, that if there is anything at all they want to vent to you about you'd be there without judgement, just empathy and understanding. A LOT of people don't have that and desperately need it.