The Death of Robin Williams Prompts a Grassroots Conversation about Mental Health

August 14, 2014

(Washington Post) – Williams’s media agent said he had “severe depression,” but he hadn’t been so public about possible mental health struggles. Williams had been open about his experience with substance abuse, including cocaine-fueled hallucinations that he recounted in his 1986 one-man show. His wife Susan Schneider also revealed Thursday that he was in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease. Regardless of the specifics of what led to Williams’s suicide, his death has inspired many different journalists and public personalities to to speak out about their experiences with mental illnesses, starting Monday night as news of his death spread.