Richard Jeni...RIP

[WindwardOahuRN]

Smart, funny, sharp. I've laughed at his routines for years. I just heard that he killed himself.

Dammit.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedi...-pe-california

The guy was just too funny...:

http://www.comedycentral.com/motherl...&is_large=true

[lavagal]

Re: Richard Jeni...RIP

I agree. What a waste. I don't think people who end their lives can see the effect their actions will have. I also know that I don't have a grasp on depression in the true, sense of the word. The kind that prompts medication. I wish I did. I wish we all did. If so, then 22-year-old young teachers wouldn't be throwing themselves off the cliffs at Makapuu, comedians wouldn't be putting bullets through their faces, and 33-year-old Hollywood types wouldn't be taking final drug trips.
There must be something inside these people that refuses to be consoled or helped, no matter how much effort those around them make to embrace them or to reassure them.
There also must be anger and grief so powerful that nothing anyone can say can keep these people from committing a final act of revenge.
I'm speculating mostly. Trying to analyze. My sister once worked for a suicide hotline, and had specific training for this. Still, despite the training and outreach, these sad souls don't seek the counsel.

[Pomai]

Re: Richard Jeni...RIP

What's with all these chain reaction of tragedies? Helicopter accidents. Pedestrian accidents. Untimely celebrity deaths.

I almost don't want to read or watch the news anymore.

Richard was an excellent stand-up comic. He'll be missed in that community.

[tikiyaki]

Re: Richard Jeni...RIP

Brad Delp and Richard Jeni in one weekend....

And jeni killed himself ? JEEZ....who would think HE would do that?

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: Richard Jeni...RIP

Brad Delp and Richard Jeni in one weekend....

And jeni killed himself ? JEEZ....who would think HE would do that?

It looks like he had been troubled for a while:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...ationworld-hed

So sad. Here are some funny quotes from him:

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/...2/jeni.quotes/

[tutusue]

Re: Richard Jeni...RIP

Must admit, whenever I see depression and suicide in the same paragraph I wonder about antidepressants. A carry over from the 90s, I suppose, but I still wonder, nonetheless.

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: Richard Jeni...RIP

Must admit, whenever I see depression and suicide in the same paragraph I wonder about antidepressants. A carry over from the 90s, I suppose, but I still wonder, nonetheless.

Wonder what, Sue? Whether they would have helped, or whether they contributed?

They have been known to "uplift" a suicidal person to the point where they are able to get out of the "paralysis" mode of depression and make plans to actually commit suicide.

[tutusue]

Re: Richard Jeni...RIP

Wonder what, Sue? Whether they would have helped, or whether they contributed?

They have been known to "uplift" a suicidal person to the point where they are able to get out of the "paralysis" mode of depression and make plans to actually commit suicide.

Contributed.
Must admit I'd not heard the "uplift" explanation but it sure makes sense. The mother of a friend of mine jumped off her 23rd floor lanai to her death just a few days into an antidepressant. A neighbor of mine shot himself, again just a few days after starting ADs. And, I remember headlines in Calif. of the homicide/suicide deaths attributed to ADs. Granted, the number of those cases is but a very small percentage of the number of people who successfully take ADs but whenever I hear that a person with depression took his/her own life, ADs are the first thing thing that come to mind. I've always thought of that as a paradoxical reaction...kinda like when I tried Ambien and it hyped me up so that I couldn't sleep all night!

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: Richard Jeni...RIP

Contributed.
Must admit I'd not heard the "uplift" explanation but it sure makes sense. The mother of a friend of mine jumped off her 23rd floor lanai to her death just a few days into an antidepressant. A neighbor of mine shot himself, again just a few days after starting ADs. And, I remember headlines in Calif. of the homicide/suicide deaths attributed to ADs. Granted, the number of those cases is but a very small percentage of the number of people who successfully take ADs but whenever I hear that a person with depression took his/her own life, ADs are the first thing thing that come to mind. I've always thought of that as a paradoxical reaction...kinda like when I tried Ambien and it hyped me up so that I couldn't sleep all night!

Not paradoxical, really. Their depressions are truly lifting but often just enough to get them moving. The depressed feelings are still there but now they have the energy to act upon them. The most likely time for this to happen, I've heard, is in the first month of antidepressant therapy.

What makes it especially heartbreaking is that the victim has finally taken steps to deal with his depression. Faced the fact that it truly is an illness, seen a doctor, picked up that prescription. His loved ones are elated that he is getting help.

There are conflicting studies regarding the possible causal relationship of antidepressant use to suicide, though. I've read some that totally refute it and others that confirm it. I'm suspicious of some of those studies that refute the connection. It seems that too many of them were conducted by groups that might have an ulterior motive---psychiatrists, pharmaceutical companies.

Interesting that a "black box warning" is now placed on antidepressant prescriptions intended for use by children and adolescents. There are some that believe it would be a good idea to apply the warning to all users regardless of age and that it should definitely be expanded to include young adults:

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2004/NEW01124.html

http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/antidep...abelChange.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...121300452.html

[achow]

Re: Richard Jeni...RIP

It is always sad to say goodbye to a celebrity. I liked watching him on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.