Get past the stigma

Well, we’ve lost Robin Williams. Once again, a talented, creative person, apparently with a severe mental illness, has succumbed to the hardest thing to overcome, and that’s our own hand.

We often ask ourselves, “Why?” And there is really no answer.

You know, the beauty of this life lived, though it dies, is that it blossoms and sprouts anew to produce much fruit for the lessons and the good of man.

Get help. It’s beatable. Praise God for modern medicine and the doctors and scientists who are absolute geniuses, who dedicate their lives to better treatment for severe mental illness.

Let’s fight this stupid stigma that keeps people from getting help and moving on. Let’s not define ourselves by what others think of us. The productivity and cost-effectiveness of treated mental illness, whether crippling depression, schizophrenia or any other mental illness, can often exceed pre-illness functioning.

Sick or sober, the good that can come from this tragedy, shedding light on the perils of paralyzing depression, could redirect countless lives to a new, better future.

Let’s count our blessings and never take good health for granted, as it could be taken at any time. And let’s also be thankful for having the love and laughter of Robin Williams. May he rest in the arms of the Lord.

KYLE M. CORNETT Morrilton