# Why did they commit suicide? \[Robin Williams and Kurt Cobain\] **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 15, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372 "2015-09-15T16:52:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/41 "2015-09-17T16:12:19Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Oh…I thought that you were talking about Courtney… I _think_ you are making a joke, since I mentioned “drug user”. Do I understand correctly? Otherwise, I don’t understand why you would think I was talking about Courtney Cobain when I said “estranged from Courtney and his granddaughter…” ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/42 "2015-09-17T19:52:27Z")
Wait…now you’re saying Courtney Love was a trans who had a granddaughter? Or is it Curt’s granddaughter? I didn’t think he was all that old. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/43 "2015-09-17T21:33:57Z")
I’ve heard so many different variations on this old joke, but it seems relevant: A man goes to a doctor and says, “I’m sad, I’m lonely, I’m depressed, I’m miserable all the time, I feel like a failure and a fraud. I just want to kill myself.” The doctor replies, “I Know just the cure. Go to see Robin Williams perform. He’s hilarious. You’ll laugh so hard that everything will seem better in your life.” The man replied, stunned, “But Doctor… I AM Robin Williams.” - I’ve had some misery in my life, but I guess I’ve been lucky. Nothing has ever happened to me that was so bad I thought things could never get better again. What was life like for Robin? I suppose I’ll never know. MAYBE he was in such constant pain and misery that he was bound to kill himself eventually… but then again, maybe everything would have looked brighter in the morning if he’d just gotten a good night’s sleep. How can we possibly guess? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/44 "2015-09-18T22:27:07Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Do we know if he knew before he committed suicide? If he had gotten that diagnosis he may have decided suicide was better than the destructive phase. My father had Lewy Body Dementia though it was not diagnosed until after his death. It was my understanding that it could not be diagnosed except by physically examining the brain though this may have changed since his death. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/45 "2015-09-19T02:00:22Z")
I once became suicidal because, in the course of running errands, I forgot to mail a letter for my mom. My brain literally jumped from “I forgot to drop that letter in the mailbox” to “I am a worthless human being who will only ever disappoint her loved ones” to “I should be dead. I should go make myself dead right now” in less than ten seconds’ time. That’s depression for you. Thankfully, at least one part of my brain was in good enough shape to realize the enormity of that mismatch and draw my attention to it. Previous counseling and research enabled me to spot my thought patterns for what they were - distortion caused by a disease I have only a little bit of control over. So, I coped for the half an hour or so until my brain stopped screaming at me, and when those thoughts finally receded, I was able to reach out for help. However, if it had won out and driven me to kill myself, my parents and my friends would have had no idea why I’d done it. When it comes to depression, trying to figure out the exact reasons someone chose at that moment to end their life is a fool’s errand. Even if they wrote down the words, it still wouldn’t make any sense. The overall reason is that they had an illness which caused mental anguish of a type the majority of people never experience, and in many people with this disease, the symptoms actively push them to take their own lives. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/46 "2015-09-20T01:02:02Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > There is absolutely no proof that Cobain didn’t kill himself. If anything Courtney and his daughter prolonged his life. I just finished watching a new doc on his death, [Soaked in Bleach.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d_2y407wlA) The PI recorded every audio interaction. At the very least I came to the conclusion the SPD were beyond incompetent in the handling of that case. With that, I think it’s a possibility he might of murdered. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/47 "2016-10-10T05:38:02Z")
Robin Williams’ widow wrote an account of his last year: > **[The terrorist inside my husband's brain](https://n.neurology.org/content/87/13/1308.full)** > > I am writing to share a story with you, specifically for you. My hope is that it will help you understand your patients along with their spouses and caregivers a little more. And as for the research you do, perhaps this will add a few more faces... ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/48 "2016-10-10T07:06:05Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > It seems like a lot of comedians end up committing suicide. (Robin Williams being the most recent example, but there are many others.) I think the unfortunate truth is that many comedians are deeply unhappy people, and the comedy is just a coping skill to help them deal with it. Not sure about the ‘just’. I suspect the comedy is also partly a product of brains that work differently to the accepted norm. Writing comedy (indeed any kind of innovation) can be achieved by stepping outside of normal parameters and looking at things in a different way (often after discarding convention). For people who don’t suffer depression, and want to write/invent, this often has to be a deliberate action. For some people with depression, it happens to them regardless, and beyond their control. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/49 "2016-10-10T12:02:48Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Robin Williams’ widow wrote an account of his last year: > [http://www.neurology.org/content/87/13/1308.full](http://www.neurology.org/content/87/13/1308.full) I read this link and parts of it were very telling and frankly haunting: > [@](#): > > When we were in the neurologist’s office learning exactly what this meant, Robin had a chance to ask some burning questions. He asked, “Do I have Alzheimer’s? Dementia? Am I schizophrenic?” The answers were the best we could have gotten: No, no, and no. There were no indications of these other diseases. It is apparent to me now that he was most likely keeping the depth of his symptoms to himself. Having the lucidity to ask those questions, he probably was experiencing all those symptoms. Imagine how terrifying that would be. I could easily imagine a person with lifelong depression thinking “I’ve almost killed myself over way less than this.” ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/50 "2016-10-13T00:47:28Z")
Robin Williams was losing his career, his health, his mind, and his money. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/51 "2016-10-13T00:57:25Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Robin Williams was losing his career, his health, his mind, and his money. Yes, he was losing his health and his mind, but career and money problems were not factors in his death. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/52 "2016-10-13T01:13:45Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Yes, he was losing his health and his mind, but career and money problems were not factors in his death. I disagree. He had money troubles and was struggling to remember his lines so his career was at risk. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/53 "2016-10-13T01:24:12Z")
Kurt Cobain had a history of heavy heroin use, which no doubt intertwined with his depression, whether cause or effect or bothe, who knows. But there is apparently reason to believe that Cobain’s heroin dependence was related to a chronic, painful stomach ailment. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/54 "2018-05-10T21:33:55Z")
Updating this thread there is a new biography of Robin Williams coming out and here is an excerpt about his last days: > **[Inside the Final Days of Robin Williams](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/05/robin-williams-death-biography-dave-itzkoff-excerpt)** > > New York Times reporter Dave Itzkoff details the beloved star’s heartbreaking decline in this exclusive excerpt from Robin, his new biography. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/55 "2018-05-10T22:11:06Z")
I was about to graduate from college when Kurt Cobain died. NOBODY was surprised at this, or at the cause. ☹ I also believe that he would have done that a decade earlier had he not had his music to sustain him. As for Robin Williams, ever since hearing that the autopsy revealed that he had Lewy Body Dementia, which is like a cross between Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and much, much worse than either, I consider this to be his real cause of death, and that suicide was simply the manner in which he died. This disease causes very severe depression and paranoia. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372/56 "2018-05-10T22:41:09Z")
I have no problem believing that Cobain committed suicide. I have been through chronic gastric pain like that, and it definitely will make you want to just end it all. Especially when some idiot doctor who can’t say “I don’t know” instead says “psychosomatic.” There was speculation that John Denver died on purpose too. See, I always think it makes the most sense when someone who has everything ends it all. I mean, if you are already wealthy, and happily married, with a nice home, at the pinnacle of your career, and you still feel miserable? It’s easy to see how you’d think there is only one answer. The same with pretty, popular high schoolers who are also depressed. When everyone is telling you these are the happiest days of your life, it’s easy to say “Well, F this then.” If, on the other hand, you haven’t built anything yet, and you are miserable, it makes the most sense to get busy building. . . or get busy getting the meds you need to be able to start building. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-commit-suicide-robin-williams-and-kurt-cobain/731372.md?page=2)