The tragic death of Robin Williams has brought attention onto the symptoms and struggles of depression.
The late comedian was one of 16 million people in the U.S. who experience symptoms of depression, according to the Inquisitr. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that depression is the most common of all the mental and behavioral disorders, more common than anxiety or even alcoholism.
Major depressive disorder, which is typically talked about in the news and other media outlets, is identified when five or more of the following symptoms occur every day or nearly every day for more than two weeks:
- feeling sad, empty, or hopeless most of the day
- getting less or no pleasure out of things they typically like
- weight loss when not dieting or weight gain
- much more or much less sleep than usual
- observable slowed movements or restlessness
- feeling tired
- feeling worthless or guilty
- difficulty thinking or concentrating
- thinking about death and suicide-with or without a suicide plan
Medical experts have stated that patients with Parkinson's disease often suffer from depression. Robin Williams' widow revealed that the comedian was in "early stages" of the neurological disease at the time of his reported suicide, according to the LA Times.
"Obviously getting the diagnosis can make people depressed. But we also know that there's a much higher incidence of depression even before the disease is recognized. We think it's one of the early symptoms," stated Dr. Jeff Bronstein, a neurologist in the Movement Disorder Program at UCLA.
