The Call to Love Includes the Mentally Ill

          When I learned of the death of actor and comedian Robin Williams two days ago, my heart ached. I grew up watching Mork and Mindy, and I saw many of his films. And who can forget that memorable, manic voice of the Genie in Disney’s Aladdin? Most recently I watched every episode of his short-lived series The Crazy Ones, enjoying his comedy and his commentary on mental illness and addiction. I wonder if, in some way, that series was autobiographical, to some degree? In the show, he played a genius advertising executive who was a recovering alcoholic and addict, running his agency with the help of his mildly neurotic daughter and three young protégés, each with their own quirks. The series was both hilariously funny and tragically sad at the same time, perhaps like Mr. Williams’ life. And the sadness surrounding his death was all the heavier because this gifted, big-hearted man committed suicide.

          The outpouring of public sympathy has been remarkable. He was a very well-liked man, obviously. But some of the response, much of it from so-called “Christians” sadly, has been vile and despicable. Some of these people claim that Mr. Williams was a coward for choosing suicide. Yes, he made a choice. Everything we do is a choice. We are not automatons running on cruise control. God gave us free will, one of the traits that makes humans reflect the image of God. Our brains are constantly working and processing, forming neural pathways that make associations that lead to thoughts that spur actions.

However, making choices requires judgment, and things beyond our control can impair our judgment. Mr. Williams was diagnosed as bipolar. That means he experienced extreme mood swings from mania to depression. According to webmd.com [http://www.webmd.com/bipolar-disorder/guide/bipolar-disorder-symptoms-types], mania symptoms include “…excessive happiness, excitement, irritability, restlessness, increased energy, less need for sleep, racing thoughts, high sex drive, and a tendency to make grand and unattainable plans.” The depression symptoms described on the website include “…sadness, anxiety, irritability, loss of energy, uncontrolled crying, change in appetite causing weight loss or gain, increased need for sleep, difficulty making decisions, and thoughts of death or suicide.” There is a spectrum of bipolar disorder, from mild to extreme. Like many sufferers of other mental illnesses, some people diagnosed as bipolar self-medicate with drugs and/or alcohol.

People who suffer from mental illness are no more in control of their conditions than people suffering from physical illnesses. So to claim that a person who has been medically diagnosed with a mental illness and who completes suicide is a coward for making such a choice is ignorant and ill-informed at best, and callous and mean-spirited at worst. Those who have struggled with bipolar disorder themselves and survive on a day-to-day basis know from personal experience how heavy the burden of despair can be, how their self-esteem and sense of self-worth can drop to rock bottom. They also know how terribly frightening life can be in the middle of a manic episode, and if not frightening, how awful it is to suddenly drop down from the high of an unexplainable and uncontrollable happiness. Bipolar disorder is a mental roller coaster ride that never stops. And when a person gets so tired of the ride, tragically sometimes the only way off that they can comprehend is death.

It royally pisses me off to hear or read the words of people who claim to be followers of Christ—the reconciler of the world to God, the bringer of the Good News, the lover of our souls—judging and criticizing the mentally ill, claiming that they could control their thoughts and their actions if only they would “get right with God.” Let me ask them this: Are the physically ill not right with God because they are ill? Is all illness, physical or mental, a punishment from God for the sufferer’s wrongdoing?

In my opinion, God has blessed us all to be born in a day and time when we have medical professionals and scientists who help us understand the world we live in and the beings we are. No longer do we exile lepers to the wilderness because they are “unclean.” No more do we burn people at the stake because they suffer from a condition we cannot explain. We do not hide the mentally and physically impaired away in asylums because it makes us uncomfortable to see them (we do, however, very often cast them to the streets and leave them to fend for themselves). We have more access to information than ever before in human history. Information leads to knowledge, and knowledge helps us find the truth.

And the truth is that there are people who cannot help how they are. We who claim to be followers of the way of Christ are not called to judge or condemn, but to love. Robin Williams was loved by many, and I’m sure he knew that, but I wonder if anyone who ever claimed to be a follower of Christ helped him know that God loved him? Or did they only offer judgment and criticism because of his addiction problems? And for some people, might it be possible that, even though they know in their hearts that God loves them, still their brains are incapable of breaking the patterns of thought that are biologically influenced?

God has free will, too. And God doesn’t choose to heal everybody. Just ask anyone who has lost a child to leukemia or cancer or AIDS. I’m sure many of them prayed fervently for their child’s healing, yet it seems that God turned a deaf ear. I personally don’t believe that. The God I know hears everything and understands every pain and knows every detail of every molecule in every human being that ever was, is, and will be. The God I know also knows a whole lot more than I do, and sees the big picture much clearer and wider than I can. So I have to believe that God chooses not to heal every sufferer of mental illness, too, for whatever reasons known only to God. All I know is that God expects me to love and not judge, to seek to understand rather than to explain, to grieve with the grieving and rejoice with the rejoicing. Maybe some people are allowed to suffer so that people like me will learn empathy and compassion, not judgment and condemnation.

Robin Williams’ brain chemistry might have been messed up, but according to many people who met and knew him, he was a kind-hearted, gentle spirit who made people laugh and even became friends with a gorilla (just Google “Robin Williams and Koko” and you’ll learn what I’m referring to here). I’m sure God was very sad that Mr. Williams made the choice that he did, and I’m also sure God knows very well—better than any of us—why Mr. Williams made such a choice. None of us knows why; we cannot know because we cannot get inside the heads of other people and know their thoughts and feelings as if we are they. But God can. God understands pain and suffering because God experienced it through Jesus, who neither judged nor condemned the ill and the outcast, but only loved them, bringing healing to their hearts and hope to their souls. I’m sorry it seems that Mr. Williams didn’t feel that sense of inner healing and hope; or perhaps he did at one time, but his infirmity got in the way. I don’t know, and neither do the Internet trolls out there who are showing such hateful and mean attitudes. So maybe we should all just shut up and let Mr. Williams rest in peace, finally.

If you suffer from any of the symptoms of bipolar disorder described previously, I implore you to seek help. Look online or in your phone book for your local mental health crisis services. If you are having thoughts of death or suicide, call 9-1-1 immediately. If someone you know displays bipolar or other mental health symptoms, please do not be afraid to talk to that person about how they feel. The conversation could save their life.