The Loss of Robin Williams, and the Reality of Depression

TO BE MY OWN MASTER. SUCH A THING WOULD BE GREATER THAN ALL THE MAGIC AND ALL THE TREASURES IN ALL THE WORLD. BUT WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT? LET’S GET REAL HERE, THAT’S NEVER GONNA HAPPEN. GENIE, WAKE UP AND SMELL THE HUMMUS.” -GENIE IN ALADDIN

My husband I were on the couch, television muted, listening to music.

A red banner announcing Robin Williams’s death flashed on the screen.

He was only 63. We immediately thought suicide, or overdose.

We shut the music off and turned the volume back on the TV.

Indeed, he took his own life, reportedly by asphyxiation. 

A dear friend from high school died that way a year after we graduated.

A shocking announcement.

This morning, as I turn on the news and start my day, it’s palpable.

Yesterday, my husband argued with me as I phoned him on the way home from…