Robin Williams and Why Funny People Kill Themselves

Unfortunately, I know this all too well on a deeply personal level.
My sister and I both had s#tty lives growing up and we both ended up being class clowns. Taking our experiences we'd tell them in such a way that purple wiuld be left saying "Damn, thats jacked up," while laughing and forever questioning why they're even laughing.

Some of the s# we've been through would make some run for the hills covering their ears. But at a young age I realized I could turn it around and instead of being depressed about everything why not just use my own personal hell to make people laugh while at the same time helping them see that this work can be just as ugly as it is beautiful.

I still have major issues inside of myself, kind of like a steady pot of thick gooey crap constantly on the verge of boiling over and destroying everything in its path..I've leaned to keep it at the right temp to keep it from doing just that.

Laughter an humor are the main things that help me with that. And thats probably how Robin made it as long as he did. He ENJOYED making poeple happy and for awhile that happiness was enough to satisfy him as well.

Unfortunately,some just aren't as strong as others. He proved himself a tough man, I think, to have dealt with it for so long with never giving anything away. I have a babygirl who will be 3 in november. To be completely honest with you all, if I didnt have her to wake up to every morning, to make laugh, just to see her beautiful smile, I would have given up a short time ago.

For awhile, making poeple laugh can be all you need in order to be happy with yourself. But you can't live off of others happiness before realizing just how unhappy you really are.

"This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man"
~~William Shakespeare

I suppose I could easily be diagnosed a bipolar, but I believe I do a good job of keeping that dog on a leash.
I don't take meds, unless beer and tobacco count.
Sometimes I'm down...not "sad" down...I just want to be alone. I like spending quiet time in my own head with no distractions.
Sometimes I want to socialize. I hit the scene and often catch myself in a groove where I get people laughing. Best feeling ever.

I don't think funny people kill themselves any more frequently than people who aren't funny.

It's very hard to know why anyone kills themself unless they leave a detailed note/letter, which most don't.

There's a tendency to think they were depressed but it isn't necessarily so - there's such a thing as rational suicide, and I'm inclined to believe it's far more prevalent than people realise.

The suicide rate is greatest among older men.

RW was 63 and had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

In health terms, his best years were behind him and his worst were to come.

It may simply have been a case of "Quit while you're ahead".

I have had a few friend who have "hit the switch." I have noticed a pattern. They go through long periods of depressed withdrawal from socializing. Then they seem to become very social and at peace for a short stretch before they overdose or eat a bullet.
Keep an eye on your friends. If you know someone who is in the "pits," and they suddenly seem uncharacteristically cheery, spend some time with them.