Robin Williams, depression, The Church, and me.

I suffer from depression and anxiety.  I thought about the many ways I could begin a post about the loss of Robin Williams and honestly, I think it's just best if I say this out loud: I was clinically diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and adult attention deficit disorder. But more about me in a minute...

Robin Williams killed himself yesterday. If that isn't a wakeup call, I don't know what is.

Depression is a subject that has a stigma to it, even though 1 out of 9 Americans report suffering from it. So why is it such a taboo subject? Why are we afraid to talk about mental health issues?

I am a worship leader and I believe that we in the Church (with a capital C meaning all churches) need to start talking about it. Regularly. 

We need to remove the stigma from mental health issues. People who suffer need to know they are not alone -- that they are not "doing something wrong". They need to know that it's okay to seek out help. And they need to know that it's okay to do more than just pray for healing. God gives us miracles every day through modern medicine.  

Four years ago I decided it was time to do something about my A.D.D.  I had lost a job over it and after leaving another job to pursue music full time I was having a lot of trouble getting anything done at home without the discipline that comes from an actual boss. So, after reading this article in Relevant Magazine, I decided I should go and do something about it. 

I went through a battery of tests and came to find out--and by "find out" I mean, admit--that I have depression and anxiety issues on top of the A.D.D.

And you know what? There is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with me that can't be taken care of by medicine. Since going on medicine my life is better. It's not perfect and I still have a lot of work to do, but it's better. 

There are still long periods of depression for me. To be even more transparent than I've already been here, I'm in one now.  Often times, the other 8 out of 9 Americans who have never dealt with depression seem to think depression is conditional. So some people might hear me say that I'm depressed and assume it's because one of my heroes died yesterday. It's not. There is a chemical imbalance in my brain that medicine does its best to fix, but it's not always gonna happen.

The medicine does allow me to better cope however. If you take nothing else from this than that, take that. If you are suffering from depression or other mental issues, take it seriously. Take it as seriously as you would a bleeding wound that won't heal and go to the doctor.

I no longer lay in bed and fantasize about not waking up. Yes, that was me a few years ago.  This comes as a shock to people when they hear it from me. They equate that I'm funny with me being happy. I am a funny person. I don't have to be modest about that. It's just a fact. Ask anyone who knows me. I'm frickin' hilarious sometimes. If I didn't have musical ability I might have wanted to be a comedian. But to be honest, being a comedian is a heck of a lot harder. 

And a TON of funny people suffer from depression and other mental issues. That's why we've lost so many of them to suicide and overdoses. Comedic greats like Freddie Prinze, Richard Jeni, and Greg Giraldo all killed themselves. John Belushi, Chris Farley, Mitch Hedberg and others did it accidentally because they tried to cope using drugs that never produced the high that being on a stage making people laugh provided.

And now we add Robin Williams to the list. He was probably my first favorite comedian. The only other stand-up that came close was Bill Cosby. But Robin made me laugh harder. He made me laugh harder than anyone on television. He taught me on Mork and Mindy that, as Time Magazine said yesterday, "weirdness wasn't just o.k.--it was amazing."

Between his movies and his appearances on late night shows from Carson to Letterman to Fallon, he shaped my view of adults. As a grown up I know that it's okay to be silly sometimes and still expect people to take me seriously. I had never thought of it until this very moment, but he really had a great impression on that aspect of my personality.

Taking a cursory glance at Robin's IMDB page, I was amazed to see how many of his movies I not only had seen, but had loved. In fact, I've seen almost all of his movies. I mean, I am a cinephile, but come on...that's pretty rare. Come to think of it, within the past year I've shown my kids Aladdin, Hook, Ferngully, Jumanji, Happy Feet and the first two Night at the Museum films. That's seven movies in one year that my family truly enjoyed. (Yeah, we watch a lot of movies.)

He was like a family member that most of us never had the good fortune to meet. My cousin Jennifer and I have noted on many occasions that as he was getting older, Robin was beginning to look more and more like a Coomer. As I created the artwork above, I could not help but be overwhelmed by that.

There's a reason why there was a point yesterday where most if not all of the top trending topics in the United States on Twitter were based on his death. Robin Williams is a part of our fabric. It's why we (and the news stations) are talking about it so much when there are other things we need to be talking about like Iraq and ISIS and Ferguson, MO. and Israel. But in some ways...like it or not, this is more important to us. We've lost someone very near and dear to our hearts.

Two good things can come out of this loss. The first is that we will experience the healing power of laughter as we watch his movies and television appearances again. The top trending Twitter topic as I finish this post is #RobinWilliamsWillLiveOnForever.

The second is that we can begin to talk about depression. We can bring it out into the open. We can destigmatize it, demystify it. And we can begin to heal. 

People are posting abt their grief re: Robin Williams but are unwilling to check in with their friends who have the same struggles.
— Lindsey Harris (@MonacleMonOncle) August 12, 2014

My friend Lindsey's tweet brings me to my final question: "When was the last time I was brave enough to ask (or even lovingly confront) someone about their depression... Or to open up to them about mine?"

How can we be the hands and feet of Christ and reach out to them to let them know we are here, to let them know God is here. How can we be the sign from God that they need? How can we be the butterfly on the cliff from which they're about to jump?

Movie Trailer of the Week - The Odd Life of Timothy Green

I don't know what this movie is about. It's definitely intriguing. Is the kid an alien? Is he an angel? Where did he come from? Is it a tragedy or a comedy? It's a Disney film?

All I know is, it looks really good. The trailer only touches on the excellent cast which also includes Ron Livingston, Dianne Wiest, and M. Emmett Walsh (who I would have absolutely bet you twenty bucks was dead...who am I thinking of??? And no, it's not J.T. Walsh).

The film was directed by Peter Hedges who, in my opinion previously did movies I really loved such as What's Eating Gilbert Grape, About a Boy, Pieces of April and Dan In Real Life. He also wrote the screenplay which was based on a story by Ahmet Zappa. Yes, that Ahmet Zappa. Is there another one?

Mourning the loss of Gary Coleman and Diff'rent Strokes

I've always felt a connection to Gary Coleman. I have been saddened over the past several years to see the troubles he went through. May he rest in peace.

Like many children of the eighties, I learned the word bigot from the show that made Gary Coleman (and his character Arnold Jackson) a household name, Diff'rent Strokes. The show also reinforced my parents' teaching that racism is unacceptable. It taught me to love "even the purple people" as Arnold put it.

Come to think of it, Diff'rent Strokes taught me many truly important lessons. I learned about:

• Eating disorders - Arnold suspected, and turned out to be correct, that his sister Kimberly had an eating disorder. I had never heard of bulimia before this episode.
  
• Taking care of the environment - washing with acid rain turned Kimberly's hair green
• The ills of drugs - First lady Nancy Reagan even appeared on an episode to thank Arnold for his work against drugs
  
• CPR and the importance of telling the truth - Arnold's brother Willis lied about knowing CPR to get a job. When Arnold electrocuted himself, his life was jeopardized because of Willis' seemingly harmless lie.
  
• Bullies - they never showed The Gooch and I'm still a little scared of him
• Child molestation - Gordon Jump played many memorable characters--from WKRP's Art Carlson, to Maggie's dad Ed Malone on Growing Pains, to the Maytag Man in his later life--but none were as memorable to me as his portrayal of Mr. Horton, the child molesting bicycle salesman from the two episode special

I could go on and tell you about Dudley and Robbie. I could talk about the guest appearances by Ed "Too Tall" Jones or Muhammad Ali. I could tell you about my crushes on the mean Lisa and Janet Jackson's character Charlene (and maybe Mrs. Garrett too). I could tell you the exact moment the show jumped the shark (it literally involved a red-headed stepchild).

I could talk about Diff'rent Strokes all day, but I'll just say this: I learned all of these lessons and gained all these memories from a truly funny 30 minute sitcom. Which leaves me with the question, what are prime time shows teaching children today?

Musicians who died and weren't mentioned on The Grammys

I was saddened and slightly frustrated with the lack of a more respectful "In Memoriam" portion of tonight's Grammys. First of all, they put two or three on the screen at one time, and more importantly, they left a ton of people out altogether.

Here are some musicians who died since the 2009 Grammys that I noticed they omitted:

• Jim Carroll (the writer of Basketball Diaries also recorded punk music)
• Estelle Bennett (of The Ronettes)
• Lux Interior (lead singer of legendary punk band The Cramps)
  
• Sky Saxon (singer for sixties band The Seeds)
• Jay Reatard (Memphis punk artist)
• Rashied Ali (avant-garde drummer who played with John Coltrane and many others)
• Dewey Martin (drummer for Buffalo Springfield who also played for The Everly Brothers, Carl Perkins, Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison and many others)
• Bobby Graham (session drummer who claimed to have played on over 15,000 tracks including songs by The Kinks, Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield, Them, The Animals and others)
• James "The Rev" Sullivan (drummer for metal band Avenged Sevenfold)
• Danny Gans (Las Vegas performer/recording artist)
• Chris Connor (jazz vocalist)
• Roc Raida (turntablist and member of The X-Ecutioners)
• Derek Loux (Christian musician and founder of Forerunner Music)

Who else?

R.I.P. John Hughes

Michael Jackson - 1958-2009

I can't find the words. I don't even know where to begin. We have lost a genius...a true genius. That word is thrown around so often, but Michael Jackson was an absolute genius. A legend.

Michael was an enormous influence on my music as he was on all musicians who make modern music.

I am devastated...I can't believe it...and yet, listening to his music, I can not help but smile. His music has that effect. And so, I will probably keep listening to his music for a long time.

Rest in Peace, Michael.

R.I.P. Paul Harvey

1918-2009



And now he knows the rest of the story. Rest in peace, Paul.

Click here for more info including statements from ABC News' president and former president George W. Bush.

Pat Morita - R.I.P.

Pat Morita is dead at the age of 73.

Wax off my friend. Wax off.

Abe Vigoda is still alive.

Nipsey Russell

Nipsey Russell - 1924-2005

Abe Vigoda - Still Alive (see this blog)

For more questions on celebrity aliveness or deadness:
http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com