Robin Mclaurin Williams: Psychological Analysis

On August 11, 2014, Robin McLaurin Williams took his own life. Throughout his 63 years on Earth he had become one of America’s most well-known actors and comedians. Williams suffered from depression and anxiety in the years before his death. He had also been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013. The origins of Williams’ mental illnesses can be explained by the biological perspective, behavioral perspective, and psychodynamic perspective. In psychology, the biological perspective looks at the roots of mental illnesses and disorders within the brain. It focuses on chemical imbalances with neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and acetylcholine. If you look at Robin Williams’ mental illnesses from the biological perspective, you

All humans are conditioned to act and behave in certain ways according to social norms. When people think about Robin Williams, they immediately think of him as a comedic genius and a great actor. That is because Robin Williams was never very open about his mental illnesses or addictions. He masked his depression and alcoholism from the world because the world didn’t want to see that side of him. The world wanted to see him as the amazing comedian he was. The article, “Robin Williams' Death: It's Time to Unmask "Masked" Depression,” by Aaron Rochlen, discusses “masked” depression. Masked depression is recognized in a person who is very inverted about their issues and feelings, being perceived by others as perfectly normal. In Rochlen’s article he points out, “Even when Williams shared news of his addiction struggles, it was often in a joking context...Even when telling stories of his pain, he managed to lighten the mood.” He makes the point that Williams came out about his addictions in a humorous manner, so people saw it as anything but serious. Robin Williams’ death shocked the world, and finding out it was suicide shocked the world even more. Williams was never open about how severe his depressive tendencies were, and he never opened up about his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease either. It is obvious that he wanted to maintain his figure as an actor and comedian, he didn’t want people to know that he was actually very sick. One of the first experiences of Williams coming out about his addiction issues was his 2006 interview on Good Morning America after entering a rehabilitation center for alcoholism. This “masking” of Williams’ illness could have made things worse for him. He was expected to be this great celebrity, but only he knew that deep down that was not him(Rochlen, 2014). Also, he experienced a lot of pressure which also may have prevented