You have a striking lack of compassion, Philip. I would think someone with your experience in mental health issues would understand that everyone at every level of society is susceptible to these kinds of feeling and actions.

Lack of compassion, Philip?
That was funny!

I don't understand why his wife has called the police.

Autonym,
You clearly don't know Philip and don't read carefully either.

Yes, I agree here, Philip is compassionate more than people realize, this blog is an extension of that.

I agree...Is it just me, or are there more people nowadays who are addicted to prescription medication?

I think autonym carried it too far (Philip wouldn't do this blog if he wasn't compassionate), but you have to admit, the last sentence was VERY strange.

Particularly since he had just spoken about all the controversies Isiah has been involved with recently.

Larry,
I understand what you mean. Coming from you is quite different!
But I believe Philip wrote this post immediately after reading the news.
You know that kind of shock we have when someone who does not fit the profile of taking, let's say a benzodiazepine?
The person looks calm and full of happiness and you find out that she/he takes... diazepam.
You ask: "-You? Do you really need it Why do you take it?"
I guess that it explains.
I smoke and sometimes an acquaintance catch me smoking for the first time:
"-You? Do you smoke? you don't look likes smoking!"
I've always ask myself how does a person who smokes must looks like!
Just the other day I met a neighbor and he was smoking. Guess what! I've asked him:
"-You? Do you smoke?"
:o)
I don't know how to explain why Philip wrote it just after the controversies.
Perhaps he...

Philip,
Explain yourself please! It's going to far!
LOL

PS: Perhaps by "his position"- former Knicks coach - Philip assumed that he would never take a sleeping pill is another option.

I'm out of ideas now.

What I want to know is why on earth his wife has called the police instead of taking Mr. former coach to the hospital.
This is much more absurd to me.
:)

Larry,
It have occurred to me now that after writing about the sexual harassment suit Philip said...

I do wish him well.

We can assume that he was already in another state of mind when he wrote the fatal phrase.

The thing is: Why the hell this Mr. former coach want to have a chemical sleep?
Sleeping pills are terrible and don't promote a good sleep.
And it seems he wanted to sleep a lot. 10 pills?
I wonder why the hell someone in his position... oops... someone would...

I hope Philip is in a good mood today

I knew nothing about Mr. Thomas before I read this post. I still don't, really. The link didn't give me a view into the man's character. As, I suppose, it shouldn't.

There are so many reasons why we chose to end our own lives. I've survived twice, thanks to unplanned interventions. I am amazed when I meet people who suffer from Depression and yet are not suicidal.

Who knows what sends a person off the lonely shore of Depression? Between the Devil and the deep blue sea, some may just swim out into the waves.

Some weird stuff going on tonight on the wire services.

Conflicting stories- it was Mr. Washington, it was his daughter who swallowed the pills... hospital saying it was a male, son saying it was the daughter. no one saying what was reallly going on.

Story all has a male though, according to hospital, and was brought in unconscious.

it could be an attempt, or a cry for help from a very troubled soul.

I suppose the story will come out sooner or later.

I shouldn't speak for Philip but what he meant by that last sentence IMO is why would someone who has everything to live for and has been incredibly successful "choose" to take their own life and that gets to the core of what I think a lot of people don't understand. When that moment comes to make the move to take one's own life, the person in question is often not really "choosing," especially if they happen to be overcome with chemical reactions to substances, either legal, illegal, or both.

well yes, career, money, relationships, all of the "typical reasons" for being "happy" and living...are obviously not going to end a depression or prevent a suicide.no matter who we are, and what we have or don't have, we can still have the dark part of our soul nagging away. remember Brad Delp? his suicide note said "i am a lonely soul".

why was dawdy's last sentence in this post surprising? didn't he express a similar lack of compassion and insight when david foster wallace killed himself? perhaps dawdy, deep down, believes that material wealth should remedy any and all problems. the fact that wealthy, famous people still suffer from depression irritates dawdy, as it challenges his profound belief in material wealth.

this blog isn't evidence of dawdy's compassion; it's evidence of his beef w/ "big pharma."

Sara,
I believe people really choose to take their lives. Being "successful" in the eyes of others does not mean someone can have many conflicts, ontological problems, a physical disease, or whatever that makes the person decide not to live any longer.
I believe that this choice is very hard to be understood. I respect people who really have made this choice.
What makes me really mad is drug-induced suicide.
I've experienced this and I can assure you that I didn't want to take my life.
It's something that has no relations whatsoever to your real feelings.
This is a hard thing to explain.
I never in my life had thought about burning myself with a cigarette. By this time I had this wish. Never burned because I KNEW it was not MY desire and it was not that strong.
But the suicidal ideation is something I will never forget and it amazes me every time I think about it.
Some people have talked about this drug-induced suicidal feeling.
THIS IS A CRIME!
We can always remember Traci Jonhson the 19 years old girl who as healthy and hanged herself on Elli-Lilly's facilities during Cymbalta clinical trials. She was full of life!
Four others volunteers have committed suicide during the same clinical trial but their names are not anywhere.

Right, Ana. I think you meant to say some people really do choose to take their lives. And yes, I agree with that. But I also think drug-induced suicide is often different as you suggest. I was witness to this and it is truly a horrific and bizarre thing that those who haven't experienced it may find hard to imagine.

Stephany,, ditto to what you said.

Anyone recall "Richard Cory"? (Either version).

I was and still am struck by the tone of the last sentence. Suicide and all of it's iterations is not something that only strikes some, and Philip knows this, at least, I think he does. That is why I said what I did - I was frankly a bit shocked, as it would be a naive statement if the author wasn't so well versed on the subject.

Dano, you said:
"I am amazed when I meet people who suffer from Depression and yet are not suicidal."
Me too. Wanting to kill myself is part and parcel with my depression. It's the first place I go with it. Which scares the piss out of me, of course, since I can hardly imagine I'm going to never fall into a depression again in my lifetime. Thanks for sharing this. I simply can't imagine being depressed and NOT being suicidal.

Sara,
We agree. I would like to know what you've witnessed. Drug-induced suicidal ideation is really hard to be understood by those who haven't experience it.
But it does exists and should be taken seriously by regulators agencies.
Covering it up, like many institutions still do, is a crime!