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"It has been two years since Robin Williams died, and his widow, Susan Schneider Williams, continues to work to spread awareness of the brain disease that led to his suicide, Lewy Body Disease.
In a heartbreaking essay titled "The Terrorist Inside My Husband's Brain," Susan writes about her late husband's final few months and how the disease that he didn't know he had consumed his life. Sharing that Robin's many symptoms didn't fit any one diagnosis, Susan explains that he had to deal with not only physical limitations such as heartburn and poor sense of smell but also mental incapacitation.
"By wintertime, problems with paranoia, delusions and looping, insomnia, memory, and high cortisol levels - just to name a few - were settling in hard," she writes. "Psychotherapy and other medical help was becoming a constant in trying to manage and solve these seemingly disparate conditions.""
Full Article:
** Essay ("The Terrorist Inside My Husband's Brain"):
http://www.neurology.org/content/87/13/1308.full
http://www.neurology.org/content/87/13/1308.full.pdf+html
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ledow on Sunday October 02 2016, @08:14PM
Something in her husband's mind that invokes terror in others?
Seems perfectly apt, to me.
Any form of dementia is fucking terrifying, and the patient's family will know even if the patient themselves doesn't.
(Score: 4, Informative) by opinionated_science on Sunday October 02 2016, @08:48PM
I modded you up - I have personally had to deal with this both professionally and personally.
As an relevant aside, I saw Robin Williams live in South Carolina a few years ago, and he was every bit as sparkling, spontaneous and witty as I have ever seen via movies, TV etc...
My impression at the time was his handler (a senior exec from film company) was there to give him prompts - not that he couldn't carry off the performance - but to give some direction.
When I heard about his death, I had the distinct feeling that I was very glad to have seen him perform as that will be how *I* remember him.
And there in lies the problem - when it's a family member you just hope you can cling to the memories before clinical degradation causes so much pain.
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Monday October 03 2016, @01:56AM
Please do not degrade the English language; language is the glue that holds society together, and her usage does not fit the definition of the word.
Terrorism is a buzzword that is being abused and manipulated. Privacy advocates, consciencious objectors, and now mental disorders are all terrorists?
terrorism
[ter-uh-riz-uh m]
noun
1.
the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.
2.
the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
3.
a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 03 2016, @04:38AM
Thank you, I understand the other posts defending the use of "terrorist" but it still seems odd. Actually, scratch that, its downright offensive to relate mental health issues with the actions of violent ideologues.
"This is a personal story, sadly tragic and heartbreaking, but by sharing this information with you I know that you can help make a difference in the lives of others."
I don't understand how this story will help anyone, it is simply a well written "this is difficult and tragic" note, something that all these doctors already know. The last thing I would expect from a widow is an essay about how hard her husband's last years were, an essay that clearly will make no difference. So what is the point of it?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 03 2016, @04:38AM
Maybe you'd like to tell HER that. I'm sure she'd appreciate it.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by ledow on Monday October 03 2016, @09:34AM
And language evolves, and allegory, metaphor and simile exist. Terrorism, from Latin for "to frighten", i.e. the act of frightening, so terrorism is the act of invoking fright.
What you've imposed is an inherently modern definition without reference to any etymology of the word in use.
Terrorism, same root as terrifying. It's not hard.
And please stop degrading treatment of mental health issues by saying they cannot be compared.
Ghost in the machine.
Terrorist in the brain.
Artist in the painting.
It's all the same use.
Or has the terrorist's use of terrorism invoked fear in yourself that is beyond compare, i.e. exactly the point of terrorism as an act, such that you can't bring yourself to use the word in any other context?
Isn't that a bit like not being able to say Nazi or Voldemort?
And doesn't that mean the terrorists have won already?
That's just hysterical to me. Look that word up.
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Tuesday October 04 2016, @03:02PM
Pedantry does your argument about effective communication no favors. I already know what the definition of hysterical is; I use the word hilarious, instead. You show your hand by expecting others to be as illiterate as you are.
Just because anyone can get away with low-quality and sub-standard speech, writing, driving, and whatever work they do for a living, does not mean that everyone should be held to that low standard.
The word terrorist was used because it sells. If you think that tabloids and newspapers are in the business of raising proper awareness about mental illness and disseminating information, and not information suppression and advertising, you are a lost cause.
(Score: 2) by ledow on Tuesday October 04 2016, @07:39PM
adjective
1. of, relating to, or characterized by hysteria.
2. uncontrollably emotional.
************3. irrational from fear, emotion, or an emotional shock. ****************
4. causing hysteria.
5. suffering from or subject to hysteria.
6. causing unrestrained laughter; very funny:
---
And this woman is a Dr, not a journalist.