How much more 'real' does this have to get before we finally get it?
With a tip of the hat to stoplookingup - I'm very sad to hear that Walter Koenig's son Andrew is missing. Like everyone else, I'm hoping they'll find him alive and okay, though at this point it's really looking like one of those 'slipped away from the herd and crawled off into the woods to die' scenarios.
Also, sadly, this really highlights how massively ignorant we as a culture - and the media in particular - still are about mental illness. Some otherwise well-meaning articles seem to be trying to blame his 'lack of success' career-wise after Growing Pains for his depression...which, apart from being apparently untrue (in the Larry King interview linked on the Koenig website, his sister Danielle lists several projects he's currently involved in), is overwhelmingly missing the point.
Depression is a disease. We hear that a lot, but it never really seems to sink in: mental illness is a real, physical, biological disease, just like cancer or diabetes, and can be just as deadly if left untreated. It sounds like Koenig has a fulfilling career and a fantastic support network of family and friends who adore him, but sadly, that doesn't matter one bit if he's clinically depressed. The disease turns off the switch in your brain that lets you feel loved and successful...so, you could be the richest, sexiest, most successful person on the planet, and still feel like your life wasn't worth living.
Because it's a disease.
My hopes and thoughts are with Koenig and his family...though it makes me sad that his dad's already talking about him in the past tense. Here's still hoping.
Q