It was not depression that took Robin Williams life. It has been revealed that a form of neurodegenerative dementia was affecting him when he took his own life in August, 2014.
This information was revealed by his widow, Susan Williams. In her first interview since the Robin Williams took his own life, she challenges the preconceptions of many people that depression was the reason why he committed suicide. In reality, he was suffering from what is known as Diffuse Lewy body dementia (DLB), which causes many symptoms.
Some of the symptoms that may be associated with this form of dementia include anxiety, hallucinations, delusions and impaired movements. It was stated that these symptoms were escalating in the months prior to Williams’ death.
Susan Williams told People Magazine “[The symptoms] present themselves like a pinball machine.” She stated that it was difficult to know what you were looking at when the symptoms occurred.
In the autopsy that occurred after Robin Williams took his own life, the disease became known. According to Ms. Williams, the disease was “faster than us and bigger than us.”
Although Alzheimer’s is the most common and best-known form of dementia, DLB is second on the list. Robin William’s widow hopes that his death will help to raise awareness of the condition so that others who may be affected can get the necessary help.
Ms. Williams has struggled for the past year to gain an understanding of what took the life of her husband.
“I’ve spent this last year trying to find out what killed Robin. To understand what we were fighting, what we were in the trenches fighting and one of the doctors said, ‘Robin was very aware that he was losing his mind and there was nothing he could do about it,’
“This was a very unique case and I pray to God that it will shed some light on Lewy bodies for the millions of people and their loved ones who are suffering with it, because we didn’t know. He didn’t know.”
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