Death of a Public Depressive

Rene Rivkin committed suicide at the age of 60, on April 30th, 2005. Rivkin, a famed and feted stockbroker to both the stars and the plebs, was one of Australia’s most public sufferers of mental health problems. And he’s dead.

The National Depression Initiative, Beyond Blue, states that one in five people suffer from depression. After the television and print advertising campaign, people are aware of the statistic. We are open to people coming out and saying that they suffer. We no longer look at it as a weakness of the spirit, but as a disease of the mind. Rivkin had been public for many years about his depression, most notably in 2003 following his first appearance on Andrew Denton’s Enough Rope program. He openly talked about suicide, depression and the constant battle to try and remain hopeful.

But he’s dead.

How can one of the most open sufferers of depression take their own life?

Rene Rivkin was known as someone who battled both his demons and legal issues. We were all aware he had tried to kill himself previously. Yet he succeeded this time. He’s dead.

Is it our fault? Have we failed him? Whilst we have done a great deal in reducing the stigma associated with mental illness, have we done enough in providing assistance for those who suffer? Or was Rene Rivkin so determined to end his life that nothing would have helped? Would he be alive if we all pulled our fingers out a bit more?

Surely the next step must be educating the masses as to how depression is handled and addressed. Just as we did with AIDS in the late eighties, we must in this new century finally address on a massive scale the trials and challenges those who suffer from mental illness face.

We cannot sit back and watch people crying without offering our shoulder.

We cannot play with our iPods when people try to talk to us.

We cannot turn away from the crying men and women in the supermarket.

We must ask them if they are okay and if we can help.

Not help as in take all their issues away, but help as in direct them to someone who may be able to help. Help as in smile at someone who looks downtrodden.

A smile a day keeps the noose away.

Rene Rivkin suffered from mental illness and we all knew it.

And now he’s dead.