Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Stephen Fry reveals he attempted suicide in 2012

bbc.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 102 posts

Re: Stephen Fry reveals he attempted suicide in 2012

#31

Post by skore »

At first, I read "Stephen Fry reveals he will attempt suicide in [year]". My mind racing as to "why, why would he ever want to do that?".

After having understood the actual title, I'm now unsure which of the two is more confusing or unsettling. I suppose equally so. This world would miss an incredible human being.

There was a deeply insightful interview with him where he spoke about self pity and how destructive it is[0]. I hope to some day meet him and thank him for that. As I would love to just thank him for openly being himself, in public.

I admire his ability to explain a concept that is dear to him. He will lay the scene in your head by touching of various points (which is exquisitely exploited in his host capacity on QI) and then, with sudden, stern force drill the most amazing and brutal observation into your skull that makes a lightbulb explode right above your head.

He will start speaking and briefly mention what he is talking about. Then he will turn all chitty-chattery as you are accustomed to, cause it's Stephen. And then he just ravages you with this piece of gold and while you're still recovering from the blow to your brain, he will return to Stephen mode, picking up the pieces, holding your hand, asking whether you're OK and making everything good again.

I would walk right up to him, wherever I can get a hold of him, tell him how much I admire him and weep in public, right then and there, without hesitation. Then I will tell him that I haven't done anything close to that in years. I should really find out whether he will be close to where I live anytime soon.

[0] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_2kelqYz_o

Re: Stephen Fry reveals he attempted suicide in 2012

#32

Post by ZoFreX »

MrJagil wrote: post #5

The nature of this illness truly reveals itself when you can contrast the quotes from the article with his behaviour in a show like QI. Without knowing more about him you would presume him to be a very happy man. My roommate suffers from bipolar disorder (and a lot of other stuff to boot), and honestly, it is as much a disease with as much rationale behind it as any physiological one. His comment about "arguing" with…

When I "come out" to people I get this reaction a lot - people are genuinely surprised that a happy person can be depressed.

Re: Stephen Fry reveals he attempted suicide in 2012

#33

Post by tjtrapp »

winter_blue wrote: post #29
citricsquid wrote: post #3

The documentary mentioned about his bi-polar is available on Amazon (and without permission on Youtube) for anyone interested, it's a very good insight into bi-polar and depression, worth the 120 minutes: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808482/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Fry:_The_Secret_Life_of... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stephen-Frys-Secret-Manic-Depressive...

When you use words like "bi-polar and depression" it gives the sense that this is a medical disease . And while speaking strictly, it is indeed a medical disease -- I want people to see the raw human factor in this. Depression, for example, in my experience, and from what I've seen -- often has a cause; a rational, explainable cause (that the sufferer often isn't aware of). When you treat someone's depression as a "m…

Pills are easy... Aside from a 30 minute visit to the doc.

Addressing the root cause typically requires working with others over a period of time... and that work is oftentimes what people with depression want to avoid.

Re: Stephen Fry reveals he attempted suicide in 2012

#34

Post by anigbrowl »

techaddict009 wrote: post #26

Recently Indian Bollywood actress Jiah Khan had also committed suicide. This shows that film industry are more into stress and depression.

No it doesn't. It's just that people in the film industry (or specifically, actors) are famous an so their suicides a) get more attention and b) seem more surprising, because successful film actors are stereotypically glamorous, wealthy, gregarious and so on. I've worked in film for about a decade and don't feel the rate of mental illness there is statistically so different from other industries. As someone with ADD who is also subject to depression I've taken some time to think about this. The stereotype may arise from the fact that the film industry is more tolerant of personal idiosyncrasies and eccentricity than other fields of employment.

Re: Stephen Fry reveals he attempted suicide in 2012

#35

Post by marquis »

winter_blue wrote: post #29
citricsquid wrote: post #3

The documentary mentioned about his bi-polar is available on Amazon (and without permission on Youtube) for anyone interested, it's a very good insight into bi-polar and depression, worth the 120 minutes: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808482/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Fry:_The_Secret_Life_of... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stephen-Frys-Secret-Manic-Depressive...

When you use words like "bi-polar and depression" it gives the sense that this is a medical disease . And while speaking strictly, it is indeed a medical disease -- I want people to see the raw human factor in this. Depression, for example, in my experience, and from what I've seen -- often has a cause; a rational, explainable cause (that the sufferer often isn't aware of). When you treat someone's depression as a "m…

The many many people in our lives suffering from a chemical/medical issue can not solve their problems with therapy alone. Depression is multi-factored and definitely partly chemical - maybe for some it's solved by spending more time in the sun but for many of our friends it is a serious clinical issue not to be mistaken as having a purely talk-it-out solution. Stephen is an excellent example here: he has the sheer intellect and forwardness of self-examination to know it can't be beat without looking at all factors and wouldn't presume to say that it's solved with drugs, or therapy, alone.

Re: Stephen Fry reveals he attempted suicide in 2012

#36

Post by thisone »

winter_blue wrote: post #29
citricsquid wrote: post #3

The documentary mentioned about his bi-polar is available on Amazon (and without permission on Youtube) for anyone interested, it's a very good insight into bi-polar and depression, worth the 120 minutes: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808482/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Fry:_The_Secret_Life_of... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stephen-Frys-Secret-Manic-Depressive...

When you use words like "bi-polar and depression" it gives the sense that this is a medical disease . And while speaking strictly, it is indeed a medical disease -- I want people to see the raw human factor in this. Depression, for example, in my experience, and from what I've seen -- often has a cause; a rational, explainable cause (that the sufferer often isn't aware of). When you treat someone's depression as a "m…

mental illness is an illness where something has gone wrong with the body in the same way that cancer is an illness where something has gone wrong with the body. Stigmatizing it in any way is not useful. Telling people to "just be happy!" isn't useful.

Re: Stephen Fry reveals he attempted suicide in 2012

#37

Post by anigbrowl »

winter_blue wrote: post #29
citricsquid wrote: post #3

The documentary mentioned about his bi-polar is available on Amazon (and without permission on Youtube) for anyone interested, it's a very good insight into bi-polar and depression, worth the 120 minutes: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808482/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Fry:_The_Secret_Life_of... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stephen-Frys-Secret-Manic-Depressive...

When you use words like "bi-polar and depression" it gives the sense that this is a medical disease . And while speaking strictly, it is indeed a medical disease -- I want people to see the raw human factor in this. Depression, for example, in my experience, and from what I've seen -- often has a cause; a rational, explainable cause (that the sufferer often isn't aware of). When you treat someone's depression as a "m…

Temporary relief may be what is needed under many circumstances. I'm personally quite clear on the roots of my depression, but that doesn't make it easier to cope with. For some people it's a mystery or problem that once solved, ceases to be debilitating. For others it's an endocrine problem, best treated with drugs. For yet others, it is best treated with cognitive exercise. Each case is different and dismissing a whole class of clinical strategies is no better than treating those strategies as a panacea.

Re: Stephen Fry reveals he attempted suicide in 2012

#38

Post by ghswa »

marquis wrote: post #35
winter_blue wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you use words like "bi-polar and depression" it gives the sense that this is a medical disease . And while speaking strictly, it is indeed a medical disease -- I want people to see the raw human factor in this. Depression, for example, in my experience, and from what I've seen -- often has a cause; a rational, explainable cause (that the sufferer often isn't aware of). When you treat someone's depression as a "m…

The many many people in our lives suffering from a chemical/medical issue can not solve their problems with therapy alone. Depression is multi-factored and definitely partly chemical - maybe for some it's solved by spending more time in the sun but for many of our friends it is a serious clinical issue not to be mistaken as having a purely talk-it-out solution. Stephen is an excellent example here: he has the sheer i…

And in these cases the situation can be exasperated by well meaning friends, relatives and practitioners searching for a root cause that, if addressed, will make it all go away.

Re: Stephen Fry reveals he attempted suicide in 2012

#39

Post by adrianbye »

winter_blue wrote: post #29
citricsquid wrote: post #3

The documentary mentioned about his bi-polar is available on Amazon (and without permission on Youtube) for anyone interested, it's a very good insight into bi-polar and depression, worth the 120 minutes: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808482/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Fry:_The_Secret_Life_of... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stephen-Frys-Secret-Manic-Depressive...

When you use words like "bi-polar and depression" it gives the sense that this is a medical disease . And while speaking strictly, it is indeed a medical disease -- I want people to see the raw human factor in this. Depression, for example, in my experience, and from what I've seen -- often has a cause; a rational, explainable cause (that the sufferer often isn't aware of). When you treat someone's depression as a "m…

what is ignored (thanks to psychiatry being left wing, and trying to mitigate the downside rather than build on the upside) is that bipolar brings a lot of BENEFITS. when bipolar people are very hyper, they can achieve great things.

thats the reason why people with bipolar usually don't want to be medicated - the highs bring genius.. the problem are the lows which follow it.

average people don't make the big breakthroughs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_with_bipolar_dis...

Re: Stephen Fry reveals he attempted suicide in 2012

#40

Post by gregorymichael »

winter_blue wrote: post #29
citricsquid wrote: post #3

The documentary mentioned about his bi-polar is available on Amazon (and without permission on Youtube) for anyone interested, it's a very good insight into bi-polar and depression, worth the 120 minutes: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808482/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Fry:_The_Secret_Life_of... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stephen-Frys-Secret-Manic-Depressive...

When you use words like "bi-polar and depression" it gives the sense that this is a medical disease . And while speaking strictly, it is indeed a medical disease -- I want people to see the raw human factor in this. Depression, for example, in my experience, and from what I've seen -- often has a cause; a rational, explainable cause (that the sufferer often isn't aware of). When you treat someone's depression as a "m…

Are anti-depressants over prescribed? Sure. Are there cases where the root cause of depression is biochemical? Yes.

I've been on meds for bipolar for five years, and I see a therapist every week. The meds get me stable - like healing a broken broken leg - and the therapy is my personal trainer building me up to run the marathon. Neither would be as effective without the other, but in my case, if I could only have one, it'd be the meds.

Post reply on HN