Robin Williams Was In Early Stages of Parkinson’s Disease, Says Wife

[sufrommich]

Robin Williams was in the early stages of Parkinson’s Disease at the time of his death, according to his wife Susan Schneider in a new statement.

“Robin’s sobriety was intact and he was brave as he struggled with his own battles of depression, anxiety as well as early stages of Parkinson’s Disease, which he was not yet ready to share publicly.”

more to come…


http://variety.com/2014/biz/news/robin-williams-was-in-early-stages-of-parkinsons-disease-says-wife-1201283014/

[Robbins]

1. Oh Man

Depression and early stages of parkinson's disease.It kind of starts to understand what lead to him taking his life.

[TheKentuckian]

3. Yup, a man like that facing such an endgame makes that choice a lot clearer

I could see how he couldn't tolerate the thought of being forced by ailment to be functionally not who he is with all that stuff that flowed out of him largely locked up in his head.

Wishing peace doesn't seem right, I wish Robin Williams to be boisterous and unleashed with the demons far behind while having a whole dimension in stitches somewhere out there beyond the circles of this world left a little less rich.

[hifiguy]

2. So sad to hear.

This definitely sheds light on a tragic situation.

[MohRokTah]

4. So sad. eom

[Electric Monk]

5. That would help explain things. I knew someone with Parkinson's, and it's a horrible way to go. nt

[Triana]

6. I had a boss with that disease. It was difficult to watch

as the tremors became worse and forced her into early retirement.

I heard or read that there were not drugs/alcohol in his system so I believe that he was sober - but just struggling with depression and the diagnosis of a pretty devastating disease. I'm heartbroken for him and his beautiful family.

And I'm PISSED to no end that some jackasses decided to harass his beautiful daughter online at this horrible time. WTF is the matter with some people? Seriously.

[cleduc]

7. I think Robin lived with a mood disorder much of his life

Bipolar hypomania. I posted about that here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5377206
and here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5381825

Parkinson's on it's own can bring on mood disorders like anxiety and clinical depression.

Both affect dopamine levels.

Mix a bipolar depression with a clinical depression brought on by Parkinson's and it's not hard to imagine how one might get to feeling pretty low.

I happened to look this up:
Bipolar Affective Disorder and Parkinson’s Disease
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/crim/2011/154165/

Accepted 19 October 2011

Little is known about comorbidities of bipolar disorder such as Parkinson’s disease. A case history and a literature survey indicate that bipolar disorder is linked with or influences Parkinson’s disease and vice versa. Underlying mechanisms are poorly understood, and, more importantly, no treatment options are established in such double diagnoses.
...
In all cases manic or hypomanic episodes had already appeared before the onset of Parkinson’s disease and, furthermore, the authors supposed that Parkinson’s disease accelerates the frequency of episodes.
...
For the special case—the combination of Parkinson’s and bipolar disorder—no specific data for treatment options exist.
...
In conclusion, too little is known about treatment options in bipolar patients with comorbid disease. Further investigations are needed.

and this:
Bipolar affective disorder and Parkinson's disease: a rare, insidious and often unrecognized association.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12548347

and this:
Medial forebrain bundle stimulation as a pathophysiological mechanism for hypomania in subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19487890
and there are more like the above

Again, in my opinion, before his Parkinson's diagnosis, Robin was already living in a semi delicate bipolar hypomania condition for decades.

From the quoted articles above, one these things or a combination of them may have taken place:
1) the combination of the periodic bipolar depression with the clinical Parkinson's depression drove him into a very deep depression
2) the medication or treatment to slow or manage Parkinson's could exacerbate his bipolar condition or dull his hypomania such that he could no longer do what he did in comedy and from that, no longer make folks laugh or create his art

The doctors may have told him he was basically screwed and they couldn't help him as much as he felt he needed or they tried what medications/treatment they could and proved it was not going to work. If they concluded he couldn't make folks smile any more, then Robin may have concluded surviving the bouts of deep depression he done much of his life wasn't worth it any more - as there would no longer be much payback for going through that agony. Going forward, he may have forecast he was just going to be a burden on others.

Robin was a very bright and very knowledgeable man - very in tune with science and medicine and in a great position to obtain good medical answers. Maybe something like the above is what he'd concluded or experienced.