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A lot of people think that successful people are happy people. That's not true at all. They feel stress and get down on themselves just like anybody else. They are people and as people, they feel the same emotions we do and that includes depression. Some people can work through that depression, but not everybody can and how they handle it has nothing to do with how successful they are.
Yes they can afford help that the average person can't, but if they don't have a therapist already, then it will be a few sessions before the patient really opens up to the therapist. In the meantime, their depression isn't getting any better. Others, instead of seeking help from a therapist, may think something like, "I think I'll go drink tonight and see if I can forget all of my troubles." Only problem though is that they wake up the next morning and they probably feel bad and they still have the same problems that they were trying to forget by drinking.
Other people have a good support system around them in their family and friends, but even that doesn't guarantee that somebody won't commit suicide. A coworker of mine several years ago was pretty depressed and was talking about killing himself. For some reason, he called me even though we never really even spoke at work, let alone outside of work, but we had a directory with pretty much the whole company's phone number in it so he called me. This man, at the time at least, was probably the most successful man in my company. He was young (early 30's), had an absolutely gorgeous wife, huge house, nice car, and he was moving up the corporate ladder quickly. From my discussion with him when he called me, it seemed all of that just added more pressure on him. A man that everybody would have thought was super happy was really falling apart inside because he was putting so much pressure on himself to better himself everyday. So anyway, we were talking and since he called me, I had to assume that he was serious, but he was asking for help also. I told him that I needed to call the cops so he could get help, but I I was going to use my house phone and wanted him to keep talking to me. I called the cops and they said a car was in the neighborhood and should be there in less than 5 minutes. I could hear the cops as they pulled up to his house and then I heard a single gunshot and it was all over. As I said, this man was extremely successful, especially for his age and even though we never really spoke at work, for whatever reason, he chose me to talk to in his final moments. I don't blame myself for any of it, but at the same time, the sound of that gunshot will haunt me for the rest of my life. I have changed the way that I approach my everyday life though because of my discussion with him that day. I take the time to enjoy every day. I still do my best to succeed at work, but I also find reasons to smile, and laugh, and if I need to, I'll vent to somebody just to relieve some pressure and I allow people to vent to me if that's what they need to do or want to do. Basically do what I can to make my own world a better place and hopefully that is enough to improve the world for the people around me.
A lot of people think that successful people are happy people. That's not true at all. They feel stress and get down on themselves just like anybody else. They are people and as people, they feel the same emotions we do and that includes depression. Some people can work through that depression, but not everybody can and how they handle it has nothing to do with how successful they are.
Yes they can afford help that the average person can't, but if they don't have a therapist already, then it will be a few sessions before the patient really opens up to the therapist. In the meantime, their depression isn't getting any better. Others, instead of seeking help from a therapist, may think something like, "I think I'll go drink tonight and see if I can forget all of my troubles." Only problem though is that they wake up the next morning and they probably feel bad and they still have the same problems that they were trying to forget by drinking.
Other people have a good support system around them in their family and friends, but even that doesn't guarantee that somebody won't commit suicide. A coworker of mine several years ago was pretty depressed and was talking about killing himself. For some reason, he called me even though we never really even spoke at work, let alone outside of work, but we had a directory with pretty much the whole company's phone number in it so he called me. This man, at the time at least, was probably the most successful man in my company. He was young (early 30's), had an absolutely gorgeous wife, huge house, nice car, and he was moving up the corporate ladder quickly. From my discussion with him when he called me, it seemed all of that just added more pressure on him. A man that everybody would have thought was super happy was really falling apart inside because he was putting so much pressure on himself to better himself everyday. So anyway, we were talking and since he called me, I had to assume that he was serious, but he was asking for help also. I told him that I needed to call the cops so he could get help, but I I was going to use my house phone and wanted him to keep talking to me. I called the cops and they said a car was in the neighborhood and should be there in less than 5 minutes. I could hear the cops as they pulled up to his house and then I heard a single gunshot and it was all over. As I said, this man was extremely successful, especially for his age and even though we never really spoke at work, for whatever reason, he chose me to talk to in his final moments. I don't blame myself for any of it, but at the same time, the sound of that gunshot will haunt me for the rest of my life. I have changed the way that I approach my everyday life though because of my discussion with him that day. I take the time to enjoy every day. I still do my best to succeed at work, but I also find reasons to smile, and laugh, and if I need to, I'll vent to somebody just to relieve some pressure and I allow people to vent to me if that's what they need to do or want to do. Basically do what I can to make my own world a better place and hopefully that is enough to improve the world for the people around me.
I feel like Robin's diagnosis of Parkinson's disease was the final straw for him. As someone who suffers from chronic conditions and pain, I can attest to just how hopeless and bleak life can feel at times. If I didn't have my faith, I may have checked out myself. Here is the deal when you suffer from something incurable. It doesn't matter how many friends and family love you. It doesn't matter how much external support that you get. They still don't have to feel what you feel. They can't carry the load for you and even worse when you see them get to enjoy their lives pain free at the end of the day. Even someone who has cancer can hold onto a glimmer of hope that the cancer will go into remission. But with Parkinson's disease, you are screwed for life.
Because this just proves, that all the fame, success, talent and money DOES NOT buy happiness. I have known people who were flat broke, dead end job, etc...who were very happy with their lives.
I think people equate success with money for some reason. It doesn't work that way. There are plenty of successful people in life that have very little money at all. Money have very little to do with a successful life. Robin wasn't successful, but he had a great talent that people loved that made him lots of money. He probably needed a lot of mental health professionals to help him, but sometimes even that won't help. I will miss him, just like I miss John Candy and many others that died young. Many of the Hollywood deaths are kids/teens or early 20's, so Robin made it longer than some.
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