Last year’s news on Emotional Health has shown some understanding. Big stars got involved in the movement. Lady Gaga openly discussed mental health with Prince William, Katy Perry shared personal moments on video, JK Rowling has been in the media declaring that she suffers from depression, Russell Brand launched his new book ‘Addiction’ and Jane Parks, the lottery winner youngest in the UK, tweeted stress to the world.
Even with all this media sharing, Robin Williams continues to make headlines frequently since his tragic suicide in 2014 rocked the world.
We all make jokes about tragedy as a way of coping – Robin Williams is a great master at creating exactly that kind of humor – but with depression in real life, we just ignore it.
The death of Robin Williams was an irony for the humor he had shown for many years. There was always this deep and sensitive side to his acting that showed a real connection through his eyes to the pain that people feel in real life.
In Mrs Doubtfire, Robin Williams brilliantly portrayed the pain of separation from his children, the loss of his home and his wife, as he tried to find himself through his work.
On Good Morning Vietnam he showed the stress of war, the pain of trying to fit in and connect with people in a completely different world, losing the people around you, and dealing with PTSD while trying to put on a brave face for the public. It also represented the pain of falling in love, across the barriers of war, language, culture and age.
In Good Will Hunting he talked about the pain of growing up in an abusive family or trying to make it in the world when you feel different from everyone else, or his part of having lost someone you love very much. He showed the pain of finding yourself again, when you feel like everything you’ve lived for is gone. Again, finding that purpose was a key part of overcoming his own depression, helping Will Hunting overcome his demons.
In Dead Poets Society he showed the anxiety of seeing a young man break down emotionally due to pressure from his father, when all the help was there. He just had to ask his teacher for help, but he didn’t. He supports the other students through emotional challenges while he faces his own challenges and the bureaucracy of the educational establishment.
In Patch Adams, he played the real mental health patient, who made changes, got his life and career back on track, only for another tragic change to happen that took his faith away again. He brilliantly portrayed the pain of seeking purpose in life and the joys of achieving it. He brilliantly showed the vulnerability that comes with having empathy for others and the strength it takes to keep that empathy in the forefront.
In each role, Robin shared the true nature of depression, emotional intelligence, and empathy perfectly. That doesn’t happen without experiencing all these emotions in real life.
Robin Williams movies, while funny and entertaining in part, are written and acted to send a message: make the world a better place and that people NEVER give up.
Watching any of these movies teaches us the signs to watch out for. The subtleties of stress, anxiety and depression. The emotional blindness that can prevent someone from being saved from suicide. The simple things you can do to make a big difference in someone’s life, including your own.
His movies only help if we listen to the real message between the humor. The message that comes from both his heart and his performance.
All of these movies highlight the need for greater emotional intelligence, the need for compassion, the need to speak up, and the need to listen.
My own son was almost another statistic as young as eight years old. His journey with depression has guided my journey with emotional intelligence and deeper empathy with the Robin Williams movies.
