Commentary on the Death/Suicide of Robin Williams and Mental Illness

In the book "The Tipping Point: How little things can make a big difference", author Malcolm Gladwell (2000) writes about the impact a famous person committing suicide on an island community had upon the culture of the young people there. The rate of suicide jumped from zero to an accepted act that has claimed hundreds of lives over the years. "The central observation of those who study suicide is that, in some places and under some circumstances, the act of one person taking his or her own life can be contagious.  Suicides lead to suicides."  Gladwell goes on to credit the work of David Phillips, a sociologist at the University of California at San Diego, who had done several studies on suicide.  "In the case of national stories, the rate jumped nationally.  (Marilyn Monroes's death was followed by a temporary 12 percent increase in the national suicide rate)" (p. 222).  The purpose of this blog is to inspire others to speak out about the act of suicide and to reflect upon how we view it.

Robin Williams was and always will be appreciated for his work and contributions, however, we should worry about the message his act may send to others who find themselves depressed or ill. As a culture and society, we need to address the obvious lack of attention mental illness has in our society. We all will become ill eventually at some point in our lives. Millions of people live all around us with disabilities and endure in their struggles contributing to our lives and communities. 

The choice of committing suicide simply because the quality of our life has been and will be diminished is something that humans seem to struggle with.  Is there ever a time when it is okay to take one's own life?  Is there really any way to stop someone or to help an individual that is intent on ending their life?  What are the consequences upon the rest of us that remain behind after the individual has passed?

Life is not permanent and we all will eventually meet our demise. One of the most humbling aspects of life can be to learn to accept help from others and the reality of both the fragility and the endurance of the human condition. Life should not be simply a matter of checking out when the quality of life no longer suits us, but rather dealing with the curriculum that is part of the human experience.  Gladwell (2008) in his work "Outliers" points out "...our notion that it is the best and the brightest who effortlessly rise to the top is much too simplistic" (p. 30).  No one successful achieved success solely on their own merits.  We've all had help along the way; we all rely on each other to survive.  It is in our relationships that we prosper.  To "climb the ladder of success" and to reach the top only to decide life is no longer worth living simply because one must descend back, has a flavor of selfishness and egocentricity to it.

When my parents died, they made it clear that they wanted to do so on their own terms.  They had severe medical problems.  They endured them up to the end.  They were proud and independent people.  I always regret not having been more mature and aware of the opportunity at the time of being there with them and helping them.  I lived far away and was just making my own life.  Afterward they died, I felt I missed something in not having experienced caring for them.  I missed the experience to care for them, as they had cared for me as a child, but maybe that is exactly what they wanted to avoid.  In the end, they chose to die at home.  Not everyone wants to be surrounded by friends and family in their final moments, as hard as that may be for some of us.  How people die impacts us all.  I know it made me stop and consider my own death and mortality.  Working with individuals that have disabilities is humbling and it makes me appreciate the abilities I have and that my own children have every day.  In the end, the lesson here may be that none of us have control and we must accept the fact of transitioning to life without control.

Life is difficult.  To care for others is challenging.  To accept to be cared for by others is probably one of the most difficult of all experiences in life, but millions of people do so each day.  Death and suffering used to be a common experience, but today, in the United States death and suffering seem to be more sanitized and shocking.  To be sick almost equates to being isolated.  Is this the Western European cultural inheritance that Michel Foucault (1965) spoke of in his work "Madness & Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason" (p. 64)?  Are we all condition into this idea that being sick is a sign of weakness that requires us to cut ourselves off from others?  In my experience, I have found sickness to be one of the greatest examples of human strength.  I am constantly amazed by my students and parents that have no other choice to endure their circumstances and to push on.

Robin Williams in his final act ended his life on his own terms, leaving us all behind to deal with our own challenges. He will probably be remembered as one of the greatest actors and comedians in our history, who ended his life, and thus will be immortalized. One can only hope that his work with the mentally ill and disabled will be remembered as a commentary to encourage others to help and recognize the variety of forms humanity exists all around us and not as something that is a reason to end one's life.

Isn't it ironic that those born with a disability and no choice tend to accept their conditions without protest; yet individuals who develop a disability later in their lives will most likely struggle with the transition. More discussion and awareness of mental issues and disabilities needs to take place. If the result of Robin's death results in a change of paradigm for the positive, then perhaps his death will mean something more than a sad loss of life and talent.

Resources:

Debate about Suicide and Robin Williams Death


Foucault, M. (1965). Madness & civilization: A history of insanity in the age of reason.  Random House. New York, NY. 

Gladwell, M. (2000).  The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference. New York: Little, Brown and Company. 

Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The story of success. Little Brown and Company. New York: NY. ISBN: 978-0-316-01792-3

Book Review of Michel Foucault's: "Madness & Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason"

In today's society, there are accounts, as recently as 2013 and going back to at least 2007, of Nevada hospitals "shipping" off mentally ill patients to California by bus or train (Bellisle, 2013).  Up to 1,800 individuals or more were given some snacks, medicine and a one way ticket and told to seek treatment in California.  As a result California sued Nevada and Nevada's legislature suddenly increased its budget by $3 million dollars to deal with the lack of resources (Mukherjee, 2013).  What makes this revelation poignant is the historic and cultural practice that is documented in Michel Foucault's work entitled "Madness & Civilization" (1965).   

Foucault's work is considered by many as a significant contribution to the history of disabilities because of the primary research Foucault conducted and because he took the unique approach of  describing how people and societies of the past viewed and dealt with the issues of "madness".  As a result, Foucualt's work provides us with an insight of how European civilization changed over time in their perspectives and actions with populations of individuals that were considered "mad", "insane" or disabled.  One reads accounts of early European civilization, in which individuals were considered part of the community and integrated, but as populations increased and societal expectations changed due to religion or technologies, individuals with disabilities became more isolated and marginalized, cultural legacies that we evidently still carry on today in parts of the United States. 

What makes Foucualt's work such an important contribution is the documentation of how cultural perspectives and society can impact the lives of individuals and further stigmatize them for hundreds of years.  The reader of this work will be interested in reading the accounts of how people with disabilities in various town ships throughout Europe were put on ships and sent away to rid the towns of beggars or individuals that simply were sick.  Today, the saying  that has been used in a variety of songs and poems,"ship of fools",  is a surviving relic from this time period (p. 8).  Foucault describes how the creation of hospitals that were designed originally for lepers returning from the time of the crusades eventually became the solution for dealing with the sick and mentally ill (p. 7).  At one time, the General Hospital of Paris, after one year of being created, held more than six thousand individuals, or one percent of the population of city at that time (p. 45).

Religious convictions framed many beliefs that we still carry with us in present contemporary times. In earlier attempts to try and understand the source and purpose of disabilities, individuals turned to the bible for answers, coming away with cursed souls, or demonic individuals who were less than human and needed to be saved (p. 61).  Concerned with saving the souls of the damned, the churches influenced and were given responsibilities to treat and care for the mentally ill from a perspective that was based on biblical interpretations, rather than scientific knowledge.

As times changed along with technologies, European society found not only ways to keep individuals with disabilities isolated but busy as well with routines and work.  Hospitals continued, but "work houses" were now created to provide revenue and routines.  Accounts of individuals being sequestered,  chained and isolated were common; treated more like "beasts of burden" than as human beings, these individuals were obviously cast down into the lowest depths of a class society that frequently feared the conditions they did not know how to explain or wanted to deal with (pgs. 48- 63).  In the 18th century, medical beliefs contributed to the idea that individuals with disabilities needed to be "cured".  The establishment of medical institutions to which individuals were sent to and "cared for".  Doctors started to develop medicines to treat the ill, of which more than one physician would die from "their own remedies" (p. 192). 

Luckily, in addition to the darker descriptions Foucault discovers in his research of European history with "madness", he also comes across moments of illumination that document more human and effective practices.  There are several accounts of the positive impact upon individuals with mental issues being outside in "natural" environments and given the freedom to exercise".  The practice of routines and activities to distract and help to train a sick mind was also suggested in helping individuals to overcome their challenges with mental illness.  "If one can discover objects or persons who may be able to distract the attention from the pursuit of deranged idea and who may be able to fix it somewhat upon others, they must be presented often to maniacs; and it is for this reason that advantages may often be obtained from travel, which interrupts the sequence of former ideas and offers objects that fix the attention" (Cullen, W., 1785 as cited by Foucault, p. 175).

"Madness & Civilization" is a relevant work to read for anyone seeking perspective on "madness" or any disability for that matter.  Foucault's work provides the reader with an opportunity to see what impact society and culture has had on individuals with illness.  It offers present society a chance to compare how we deal and treat individuals today and brings to question why as a culture and society still may fear and isolate those who may be strange to us?   Foucault's work can offer us a glimpse into the past, in the hope that we do not repeat the same mistakes and accept the responsibility for caring for our human family members, rather than conveniently disposing of them to places of isolation and suffering.

Resource:

Bellisle, M. (2013). Nev. hospitals accused of shipping mentally ill patients to Calif.  Nevada. Gazette Journal.  Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/21/nevada-california-patient-dumping/2681593/

Foucault, M. (1965). Madness & civilization: A history of insanity in the age of reason. New York. Vintage Books.

Mukherjee, S. (2013).  Nevada gets sued for dumping homeless patients onto buses. Retrieved from http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/09/11/2602391/san-francisco-sues-nevada-patient-dumping/