Does no one understand clinical depression??????????

Robin Williams committed suicide today, at the age of 63.

He "had it all."  Money, fame.

But apparently he'd been battling depression for years.

So the bright bulbs on Hannity.com message forums are all saying, "He had it all...why would someone like that commit suicide?"

Dont' these people watch Tv? Practically every TV show will have a commercial for some kind of anti-depressant drug, and there are always warnings at the end of the commercial - "stop taking if you start thinking about suicide."

So let me try to explain this to anyone who thinks Williams "threw his life away".

Clinical depression is NOT depression.

You cannot "snap out" of clinical depression.

Clinical depression is an illness, caused by an imbalance of chemicals in the brain.

People who are clinically depressed need to be on medication.

Sadly, medication has side effects.

One of the side effects of anti-depressant medication is that it can actually make you feel suicidal!!!!

So whatever Robin William's issues were, cut the poor guy some slack.  He was clearly clinically depressed.

I don't mind people committing suicide - people have a right to do what they want to themselves and if they can't stand to live anymore, that's their business.

But - if you're clinically depressed, you are not really responsible for your actions.

Again, clinically depressed is NOT the same as being depressed. That's why they add that extra word, "clinically" in there!