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Saturday, August 16, 2014

Worldview Causes Suicide

Richard, Rush, Robin








2 comments:

Eutychus said...

As so often, well said, Bill!

Curt Day said...

The complicating variable not included here was that Williams was just starting to suffer from Parkinson's Disease which would increase the depression.

We should also note that, according to the Old Testament, pessimistic world views were sometimes held by the prophets while optimistic ones were delusional and due to the denial of sin.

There are many causes for suicide but before jumping on any bandwagon, we need to look at Williams' life as whole. He was a genius entertainer and also a very empathetic person. He was generous to many people and went to entertain the troops when he could. Did his world views also contribute to his caring for others?

Williams struggled with depression and my unprofessional, speculative reasoning says that part of that was due to being a sensitive person. I've know people who are sensitive and it seems that they deal with a double edged sword. On the one hand, their sensitivity enables to be more empathetic and caring than those who are less sensitive can be. But the negative side is that the pains and injuries of life are felt more intensely and that can lead to depression --again, note the lack of credentials I have in making this statement.

Though some are focusing on their favorite whipping boy attributes (i.e. worldviews, political views, religion) that could have led to Williams' suicide, the question is whether they will also focus on his caring for and positive contributions to others and attribute that to the same whipping attributes.