The death of actor Robin Williams has caused shock waves to expand far beyond the world of Hollywood, but worldwide. Today a 12 year old girl came into my office near tears asking me if I’d heard the news of this beloved man.
What an impact he had as to be known and loved by so many. What an impact his tragic death has had as to cause such a response by so many as well. Shock is what I have heard from so many people. Shock is what I felt myself.
I cannot even begin to do justice to such an important topic as suicide but do feel a few words here are in order. The media has, of course, flooded us with this news and every detail that can be uncovered, whether appropriate, helpful, or respectful. Hearing from those I know and seeing only brief coverage on the internet I’d say we are all experiencing grief.
Grief is a well researched and documented topic. One of the best known to write and research the topic was Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. She identified the very predictable stages that include: denial, bargaining, anger, depression, and finally acceptance. It is also important to know that we can grief things other than a person’s death. We grief job losses, divorce, even dreams not achieved and more.
Suicide is a particularly difficult topic to tackle because it is so extremely painful due to what is unknown. We can never truly get inside someone else’s head or body to know their personal pain. Suicide is especially difficult when the person has been on the outside cheerful, charming, and in Mr. Williams’ case, amazingly talented and funny. Of course actors have private lives and private pain too. I, like many, can only wish the best for his family and close friends who must be suffering intolerably.
I believe it is important for us to be talking right now; to be sharing our lament; to be sharing our tears. Suicide is sad and must be grieved collectively in this very public case. We all will need to be shocked, try to bargain with god or whomever hoping it isn’t really true, get angry, get sad. Eventually, we will find some way, each in our own unique ways to come to terms with this. Acceptance does not mean liking, it only means we somehow incorporate something horrific into the very complex reality of living as human beings.
What an impact he had as to be known and loved by so many. What an impact his tragic death has had as to cause such a response by so many as well. Shock is what I have heard from so many people. Shock is what I felt myself.
I cannot even begin to do justice to such an important topic as suicide but do feel a few words here are in order. The media has, of course, flooded us with this news and every detail that can be uncovered, whether appropriate, helpful, or respectful. Hearing from those I know and seeing only brief coverage on the internet I’d say we are all experiencing grief.
Grief is a well researched and documented topic. One of the best known to write and research the topic was Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. She identified the very predictable stages that include: denial, bargaining, anger, depression, and finally acceptance. It is also important to know that we can grief things other than a person’s death. We grief job losses, divorce, even dreams not achieved and more.
Suicide is a particularly difficult topic to tackle because it is so extremely painful due to what is unknown. We can never truly get inside someone else’s head or body to know their personal pain. Suicide is especially difficult when the person has been on the outside cheerful, charming, and in Mr. Williams’ case, amazingly talented and funny. Of course actors have private lives and private pain too. I, like many, can only wish the best for his family and close friends who must be suffering intolerably.
I believe it is important for us to be talking right now; to be sharing our lament; to be sharing our tears. Suicide is sad and must be grieved collectively in this very public case. We all will need to be shocked, try to bargain with god or whomever hoping it isn’t really true, get angry, get sad. Eventually, we will find some way, each in our own unique ways to come to terms with this. Acceptance does not mean liking, it only means we somehow incorporate something horrific into the very complex reality of living as human beings.