Experiencing the Loss of Robin Williams

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_crop","fid":"26960","attributes":{"alt":"John Mann, MD","class":"media-image","id":"media_crop_6513300881371","media_crop_h":"0","media_crop_image_style":"-1","media_crop_instance":"2575","media_crop_rotate":"0","media_crop_scale_h":"0","media_crop_scale_w":"0","media_crop_w":"0","media_crop_x":"0","media_crop_y":"0","title":" ","typeof":"foaf:Image"}}]]By now, most people know that Robin Williams died by suicide, and there probably isn't anyone who is not a Robin Williams fan and admired his wonderful talent. Everybody experiences his loss and death as something personal.

We don't know the details, but it is said that he suffered from a mood disorder and had a problem with alcoholism and struggled against these things for many years. This is not an atypical situation. Mood disorders and suicide affect an astounding number of people from all walks of life.

Here, thoughts on the impact of suicide in general, by Dr John Mann, Paul Janssen Professor of Translational Neuroscience (in Psychiatry and in Radiology) in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University. He is Director of Research and Director of Molecular Imaging and the Neuropathology Division at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York.