Robin Williams struggled with severe symptoms of Lewy body dementia and felt as if he was constantly trying to shake off an “invisible monster”, this is how Susan Schneider Williams, the widow of late comic and Hollywood actor, refers to the debilitating brain disorder that causes a progressive decline in mental abilities, with symptoms that range from visual hallucinations to slow movements.
The legendary actor had a history of depression and was haunted by insomnia, paranoia, hallucinations, and went through the loss of motor and cognitive functions. Susan Schneider Williams shares her experience living with his husband’s debilitating illness, and reveals that they always knew there was more to the disease apart from the doctor’s misdiagnosis, which was originally believed to be Parkinson.
Williams feared during the first stages of the illness that he was experiencing Schizophrenia, “Robin and I knew there was so much more going on. Robin was right when he said to me. ‘I just want to reboot my brain,’” Susan has also described Lewy body dementia as, “the terrorist inside my husband’s brain.”
Robin died at the age of 63 and it was only during the autopsy that it was discovered the truth behind his condition, which had led to him taking his own life in August 2014. The comedy icon’s widow opens up about the struggles his husband had to endure in the new documentary ‘Robin’s Wish,’ tracking the final years of the actor and intending to raise awareness of the aggressive illness.
