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Hi Jessica!

Welcome back to the EmpowHER community and thank you for sharing your question with us! 

I was saddened by the great loss of Robin Williams as well-he touched so many lives and was said to have been a man not only of profound talent, but compassion. 

I have been watching the media reports on his life as they replay past interviews. He seems to have experienced a lot of darkness followed by joy after his stints in rehab. All of which he publicly acknowledged and elaborated on his struggles with depression and addiction.  

What alarms me the most is similar to your concern that there are people who have depression who suffer silently. Also, people who are afflicted with depression and have yet to be diagnosed. It must be difficult to live your daily life and not understand why you feel the feelings that you do. 

I am so glad that you asked the question about warning signs and what to look for. I hope more people take notice that mental illness is a disease, just like cancer or diabetes. People can't help that they have it and the best hope for them is that they get a proper diagnosis and can get treatment, just the same as a cancer patient would do once they were diagnosed. 

Here is a great article about the physical signs of depression https://www.empowher.com/depression/content/be-aware-physical-signs-depression?page=0,1

Here is another article about depression symptoms and suicide https://www.empowher.com/depression/content/symptoms-depression-and-why-some-people-choose-suicide?page=0,0

I hope that through this tragedy, the stigma associated with mental illness will be eliminated.

Thank you Jessica for your question!

Best,

Kristin