Robin Williams Research Paper

Robin Williams and Lewy Body Dementia.

Cooper Harrison Utah Valley University PSY 3105: Health Psychology Shauna Hiatt March 10, 2024 Abstract Robin Williams was a hilarious comedian and actor. After he died in 2014, the true impact of Lewy Body Dementia on his life became apparent. This dementia had negative impacts on Williams with anxiety and depression. In this paper, William’s life and his battle with mental illness will be explored. Utilizing the Biopsychosocial model, it will become apparent how his biology, psychology, and social life, contributed to his health, and a recommendation would be given as if it was 2014 and he had not yet passed. Robin Williams and Lewy Body Dementia Robin Williams was born in Chicago on July 21, 1951. …show more content…
Williams reportedly grappled with social anxiety, and was unconfident in himself (Gross, 2006). Williams also had the stress of his health and how he and those around him would respond to the hardship of LBD. So these anxieties were exasperated by the presence of Lewy bodies. Psychological stressors of progressive neurodegenerative disease like LBD are immense. It has to be hard to face a decline in cognitive abilities, to feel uncertain about the future, and to have the loss of autonomy that can come with this. As he faced these challenges being diagnosed with Parkinson's, it must have exacerbated the underlying psychological distress that Williams already dealt with in his life. Social Life Williams carried the weight of his health mostly alone. Williams was very aware that he had many people who looked up to him and that he was in the public eye. This made it so that he was hesitant to share his diagnosis (BBC, 2014). He had good connections with his wife and daughter, but he seemed to carry the burden of his diagnosis primarily by himself. Williams was known for being a funny man and someone who made the world a little bit brighter, so he tried not to show his demons to the world. This had the unfortunate side effect of him not

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