The traditional marriage, as it has been practiced throughout history, is being redefined to mean anything other than traditional marriage. The two are no longer expected to be one. Both demands personal space. Nothing is united, they remain separate. Each does his or her finances and then discuss how to share expenses.
Sleeping in different rooms for personal space is common. The whole modern marriage act is planned down to the minutest details, nothing is left for poetry or romance or to God to take care of. Even the issue of divorce is discussed before marriage even begins; what is going to happen during divorce or complete separation.
These are some of the things that brings in anxiety and depression. The issue of mental health has taken center stage.
Personality disorder is characterized by a tendency to have consistent and persistent conflicts in relating to other persons. Actually the modern world makes it so.
I do not want to leave this subject at the intellectual or philosophical or theoretical level. By way of emphasis, I want to bring it to the ground in a very practical way. In order to do just that I am going to relate practical story. Such stories are many and occur in everyday life. They are not done in a corner or the periphery of life. They dominate the news.
I will pick on a personal story that is famous and well known. A personal story that in many ways has affected us profoundly and led us to ask about what life has become, a big huge rock that crushes us.
Robin Williams, one of the most successful and celebrated comedians committed suicide. Moreover, he killed himself very badly.
One wonders what bothered him so bad because he was a very successful person. He had it all, fame, money, luxury, stardom, fans, and all. He was a multi-millionaire and with millions of diehard supporters across the world talking about his greatness and talents.
Another thing of concern is the method that he used to commit suicide. This was horror. I cannot imagine it. He first cut his wrist with a sharp pocket knife and then went on to tie himself and hanged himself. What a painful way to die. It was a punishment more than a suicide case. And why did he decide to punish himself so badly?
I mean if he wanted to commit suicide he could just buy a tablet of cyanide and lie in bed, take the tablet and in few seconds, he is dead. That would have been peaceful way to die. Not only peaceful but dignified so to speak. And it is painless.
I am merely relating this option because the personal decision to kill himself must have been made and there was no turning back. So if the personal decision has been made and there is nothing to overturn that decision, then I am saying why not die peacefully, quiet and painless?
There is a bigger meaning to this. He chose to die that way to leave the world with a message. We celebrated his life and consider him successful. We lauded his achievements and envied him. Dying that way he wanted to rebuke us.
Robin Williams, it seems, wanted to punish himself. He seems to have felt worthless piece of junk deserving nothing but to die like a dog. It is common knowledge that in most societies dogs are killed by hanging. So Robin Williams felt so worthless that he wanted to die like a dog. Now we have to ask the questions about existence. Definitely, wealth and fame amounts to nothing, we learn that fromRobin Williams. Clearly, Robin Williams was fed up with life. Why? You see this world of today is seething in psychological pain. How many people in this world are on the sad miserable conditions like Robin Williams and yet do not have the guts to finish off their lives? Therefore, they walk around smiling while inside their lives are burning them, resorting to psychological medications.
No wonder, the issue of mental health is playing on the television screens, newspapers and radio as a dominant subject of today.
But let us move further and assess the miserable relationship between Robin had. He was married to a beautiful designer wife. They married in much fanfare. That fanfare and glamor was not in the relationship. The real facts of the relationship and love they have among each other was sadness and coldness. Why did they do that? Outwardly presenting an image of happiness and joy while the reality is sorrow and sadness, the very opposite. We know the facts of their relationship. We do not have to relate a lot of details, only consider the sequence of events, before the suicide. During the suicide and after the suicide.The day before Robin committed suicide he came and went to a separate room and slept there while the wife slept in another bedroom. Tomorrow morning the wife woke and went away without checking on her spouse in a separate bedroom.
His personal assistant discovered Robin Williams just before 12 pm dead. By this time, the wife has not as yet checked on her husband, either through telephone call or by texting or the many instant communication channels we have today. What kind of loving relationship is that? Nowadays this kind of miserable existence is common. The lives of people are disordered. It is the modern world of progress, achievements, success and prosperity that is making people to kill themselves like dogs.
People are disconnected from themselves and from history, and are taken hither and thither by psychological speculations. We need solid history and philosophy if ever we are to tackle this catastrophe lack of mental health that is killing us.
You can begin the path to sound mental health by considering this program. It provides a great background and history of Stoicism as a way of solid living and having your mind at rest. It is a well researched audio program and is presented by the great master teacher of history Eugen Weber. I have went to great efforts in excavating it from the larger body work Eugen Weber put forth in the Western Tradition program. It is presented in raw form. I was production editor when the Western Tradition was produced.
