Talent, Success, and Suicide
Depression on Monday April 12th '10, 11:18 pm
When I heard about the death of 41-year-old Andrew Koenig, the talented actor who appeared as Richard “Boner” Stabone on the 1880s sitcom Growing Pains, I had to stop and wonder: Could he have been helped? Was his tragic suicide, in fact, preventable? Andrew Koenig was in severe pain. He suffered from depression and was undergoing treatment for it. But about a year before his suicide, he decided to take himself off of his medication and handle the depression on his own.
Help comes in many forms: family members, close friends, and caring professionals. And it also is available on computer screens. For a sufferer who doesn’t have the will or the means to pick himself up and travel to someone else’s home or office, real-time video therapy may be an ideal, safe, and convenient solution.
When I heard about the death of 41-year-old Andrew Koenig, the talented actor who appeared as Richard “Boner” Stabone on the 1880s sitcom Growing Pains, I had to stop and wonder: Could he have been helped? Was his tragic suicide, in fact, preventable? Andrew Koenig was in severe pain. He suffered from depression and was undergoing treatment for it. But about a year before his suicide, he decided to take himself off of his medication and handle the depression on his own.
Help comes in many forms: family members, close friends, and caring professionals. And it also is available on computer screens. For a sufferer who doesn’t have the will or the means to pick himself up and travel to someone else’s home or office, real-time video therapy may be an ideal, safe, and convenient solution.
