Monday, August 11, 2014

Mental illness and being aware

Robin Williams died today, and the cause is likely to be suicide. It's not confirmed, but because the cause of death was asphyxiation, it's likely.

I suppose I'm a little more torn up about it than I thought I would be. Williams played a substantial role in my childhood, and he voiced a character named Batty in one of my favorite movies of all time, Ferngully

I think the movie of his that stuck with me the most was probably What Dreams May Come. It's a film about mental illness and about dealing with grief and loss. I remember thinking it was an odd few, but it's popped into my head a lot throughout the years.

What I think is important to take from this is to use it as a reminder that mental illness happens to everyone, and that it's important to take care of the ones you love and never condemn someone for having one. Mental illness is surprisingly common. And it doesn't always manifest in obvious ways.

Historically, mental illness has been regarded as a taboo, as something that is discussed, but perhaps not often enough and not in the correct way. Harmful words that I have also been guilty of using, such as "crazy" and "insane" should not be used, and it's important to regard everyone's state of mind, even when your own isn't the best.

Anyways, I don't feel like going into detail much, let's just not turn this into another actor tragedy. Let's look upon this as a reminder that life is short, but every life is precious and incredibly important.

Please, everyone, appreciate your loved ones for everything in their soul, dark and light, and never lose hope.

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