Robin Williams.

“You’re only given a little spark of madness, you mustn’t lost it.”

The news of Robin Williams’ death has hit me harder than any other celebrity death ever, I think. I’ve never been so devastated to hear about the death of someone I never met. It’s like the entire world has collectively lost their favourite uncle. 

To hear that he had been struggling with severe depression and the cause of death is a possible suicide is heartbreaking. To know that someone so beloved struggled so much, and so quietly is especially harrowing, to me.
In the words of YouTuber Jack Howard: “The name is immortal, the man was not.”

Hearing this news has hit home quite hard for me. I’ve been struggling with depression myself over the course of this last year and the end of 2013. This week (and oddly, yesterday in particular) have been especially low days. And though I’m not suicidal (far from it) I have been in the past. Knowing that someone else, ANYONE else is going through such horrific feelings is very distressing to me, as I’m sure it is to everyone reading this. 

I was thinking last night about all the other people who could have died last night, who would have been suffering with the same problems, dealing with the same conditions. That made me very sad, to think of all these people, suffering so quietly, and not being remembered. 

If anything comes from this, I hope that it is an increased awareness and understanding of mental illness. Because that’s what depression is; it is an illness. It is not something that can be switched off, or that the sufferer can ‘snap out of’. It is not attention seeking, it is not just having a sad moment. It is a dark, difficult and often dangerous state of mind that requires understanding and treatment, not stigma and prejudice. 

If anyone reading this is struggling, I truly hope that you feel better soon. Here are a few places you can go for help, if you or someone else you know needs it:

Samaritans Suicide Hotline (UK) : 08457 90 90 90
International Suicide Hotlines
Dealing With Depression

Robin, thank you for enriching so many peoples’ childhoods and for making so many people laugh, and thank you for teaching so many kids how to fly. Bangarang. 

“I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone.”

– Robin Williams, 1951 – 2014. 

 

 

 

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Well, it’s been a while…

5 months to be exact!

I’ve certainly been a little rubbish in the upkeep of this blog! I think it became one of those things where it had been so long since I wrote something, that I found it a little too easy to keep putting it off as it had already been so long anyway.

So, sorry about that, dear readers. I will certainly be making a much better effort to be updating this regularly- I miss blogging!

Well, since I last wrote a post, quite a lot has happened! In the time I’ve been gone, I’ve completed my degree, graduated and moved out of my student house and into Manchester. So, in my very weak defence, I have been busy!

I think this post is lacking in some colour, so let’s throw in some photos of the above events. Let’s start with mine and my boyfriend’s graduation!

Dom’s graduation!

My graduation with my nutcase of a sister and brother in law!

My graduation! (This isn’t my ‘final’ professional photo by the way- just one my boyfriend took as I was posing!

So, that was a pretty big thing! A few other big things happened in the time that I’ve not blogged for (turning 22, meeting one of my best friends for the first time in seven years!) but I think I will leave some of that for the next post! (Let’s not dry up all my subjects too quickly!)

Oh, and for anyone who may be wondering, I graduated with a very high 2:1 (as in, a few points from a 1st) in Photography and Creative Writing. 🙂

Well, that’s it for now! Just a quick little update! It’s good to be back!

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