5 ms·

The terrorist inside my husband's brain (2016)

116 points by dsr12 8y ago

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
JeanMarcS 8y ago
Previous discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12619622 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12619622 (Don’t know how to mark as dupe)(Or more probably haven’t got enough karma)
- wila 8y ago
  Hacker News has its own algorithm to detect dupes, but it only does that for 1 or 2 days (Sorry I don't know the specifics). However it means that there is nothing to mark. Having said that, it is fine to repost a particular topic. What has been read by people in 2016, might still be interesting to read about in 2018 too, there might be people who didn't notice it in 2016 or people who didn't even visit the site in 2016. The time interval doesn't even have to be that long.
- exikyut 8y ago
  Too all the downvoters of this comment: Boo!, the linked discussion had 144 comments and hit 600 points.
swah 8y ago
Note: this article is about the actor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Williams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Williams
- vinceguidry 8y ago
  A great story about a guy's 2008 interaction with Robin Williams: https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-randomly-meet-a-celebrity/answer/Dallas-Adams-1 https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-randomly-meet-a-cel...
donquichotte 8y ago
What a harrowing experience for everyone involved. Coupled with financial difficulties, this could be the worst nightmare imaginable.
rustcharm 8y ago
I'm glad she told the story. When William's death was in the news, everyone was talking about "depression." This really wasn't the full story behind his death.
- ams6110 8y ago
  Williams also abused cocaine in the 70s and 80s. And there is some evidence that cocaine abuse is linked to Parkinson's type disease. http://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/23/7/2564.full.pdf http://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/23/7/2564.full.pdf
  - masonic 8y ago
    LBD/Alzheimer's is not "Parkinson's type".
Doctor_Fegg 8y ago
This is so painfully true. My mum’s partner has LBD. It’s still considered obscure: the diagnosis only came after she pushed and pushed. But it’s insidious - the inevitable, relentless breakdown of a human being. Two years ago he was a bright, independent man, with an active social life, a dozen interests and a retirement to look forward to. Now he can’t sit down in a chair without missing and she can’t leave him alone for more than a couple of hours.
foobarian 8y ago
For something that affects 1 in 6 people it seems surprising that it was missed during 2 years of diagnoses.
- sathackr 8y ago
  The 1-in-6 figure I believe is for brain disease in general. 1.5 Million out of ~300 million is a much rarer case. > As you may know, almost 1.5 million nationwide are suffering similarly right now. > He just happened to be that 1 in 6 who is affected by brain disease.
mirimir 8y ago
I love the article, but hate how it personifies LBD as a "terrorist". I mean, a degenerative disease has no political goals. I don't even see anything about infectious agents, to which one could ascribe goals of some sort. If one must personify, LBD is basically a traitor. But whatever, I mean no disrespect. It's just that the usage detracts from the article. It should have been caught by an editor. And if it was introduced by an editor, that was a poor decision.
- RichardCA 8y ago
  One could argue that 9/11 wasn't all that bad. After all there are just as many fatalities in two months of traffic accidents in the US. How did such a small band of hijackers change everything forever? Suddenly there is no way to go back, no way to return to the peace of how things were before. That's just gone forever, out of reach.
  - mirimir 8y ago
    What peace? I suppose that you mean the safety of geographic isolation. The US had gotten very complacent about taking military action with virtually no fear of retaliation. I mean, Europe got trashed twice within a generation, and the US only lost troops, and expanded its manufacturing sector. But really, wasn't the Cold War enough? Maybe not, I suppose. There was never an actual attack, just testing and proxy wars. And notwithstanding potential impact, there were really just two adversaries. Anyway, it's just war. It does suck when it comes to your home, but that's just how it goes. Labeling adversaries as "terrorists" is just propaganda. Edit: And by the way, in my childhood, damage from WWII was impossible to ignore.
- magnetic 8y ago
  I think the way it is meant to be interpreted as is "inflicting terror", not necessarily in the strict political sense. Basically it's sneaky, can hit anytime, you don't know how to find & target it, when it's going to attack, where it's going to come from, and what suffering it's going to cause (but you know it's going to be bad). It seems to me the metaphor is quite apt. Personally, I didn't feel like the usage detracted from the article at all. I'm not sure why it causes such a strong feeling of "hate". Mild disappointment perhaps, but hate?

116 points by dsr12 8y ago

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

Previous discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12619622 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12619622 (Don’t know how to mark as dupe)(Or more probably haven’t got enough karma)

wila 8y ago
Hacker News has its own algorithm to detect dupes, but it only does that for 1 or 2 days (Sorry I don't know the specifics). However it means that there is nothing to mark. Having said that, it is fine to repost a particular topic. What has been read by people in 2016, might still be interesting to read about in 2018 too, there might be people who didn't notice it in 2016 or people who didn't even visit the site in 2016. The time interval doesn't even have to be that long.
exikyut 8y ago
Too all the downvoters of this comment: Boo!, the linked discussion had 144 comments and hit 600 points.

swah 8y ago

Note: this article is about the actor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Williams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Williams

vinceguidry 8y ago
A great story about a guy's 2008 interaction with Robin Williams: https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-randomly-meet-a-celebrity/answer/Dallas-Adams-1 https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-randomly-meet-a-cel...

donquichotte 8y ago

What a harrowing experience for everyone involved. Coupled with financial difficulties, this could be the worst nightmare imaginable.

rustcharm 8y ago

I'm glad she told the story. When William's death was in the news, everyone was talking about "depression." This really wasn't the full story behind his death.

ams6110 8y ago
Williams also abused cocaine in the 70s and 80s. And there is some evidence that cocaine abuse is linked to Parkinson's type disease. http://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/23/7/2564.full.pdf http://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/23/7/2564.full.pdf
- masonic 8y ago
  LBD/Alzheimer's is not "Parkinson's type".

Doctor_Fegg 8y ago

This is so painfully true. My mum’s partner has LBD. It’s still considered obscure: the diagnosis only came after she pushed and pushed. But it’s insidious - the inevitable, relentless breakdown of a human being. Two years ago he was a bright, independent man, with an active social life, a dozen interests and a retirement to look forward to. Now he can’t sit down in a chair without missing and she can’t leave him alone for more than a couple of hours.

foobarian 8y ago

For something that affects 1 in 6 people it seems surprising that it was missed during 2 years of diagnoses.

sathackr 8y ago
The 1-in-6 figure I believe is for brain disease in general. 1.5 Million out of ~300 million is a much rarer case. > As you may know, almost 1.5 million nationwide are suffering similarly right now. > He just happened to be that 1 in 6 who is affected by brain disease.

mirimir 8y ago

I love the article, but hate how it personifies LBD as a "terrorist". I mean, a degenerative disease has no political goals. I don't even see anything about infectious agents, to which one could ascribe goals of some sort. If one must personify, LBD is basically a traitor. But whatever, I mean no disrespect. It's just that the usage detracts from the article. It should have been caught by an editor. And if it was introduced by an editor, that was a poor decision.

RichardCA 8y ago
One could argue that 9/11 wasn't all that bad. After all there are just as many fatalities in two months of traffic accidents in the US. How did such a small band of hijackers change everything forever? Suddenly there is no way to go back, no way to return to the peace of how things were before. That's just gone forever, out of reach.
- mirimir 8y ago
  What peace? I suppose that you mean the safety of geographic isolation. The US had gotten very complacent about taking military action with virtually no fear of retaliation. I mean, Europe got trashed twice within a generation, and the US only lost troops, and expanded its manufacturing sector. But really, wasn't the Cold War enough? Maybe not, I suppose. There was never an actual attack, just testing and proxy wars. And notwithstanding potential impact, there were really just two adversaries. Anyway, it's just war. It does suck when it comes to your home, but that's just how it goes. Labeling adversaries as "terrorists" is just propaganda. Edit: And by the way, in my childhood, damage from WWII was impossible to ignore.
magnetic 8y ago
I think the way it is meant to be interpreted as is "inflicting terror", not necessarily in the strict political sense. Basically it's sneaky, can hit anytime, you don't know how to find & target it, when it's going to attack, where it's going to come from, and what suffering it's going to cause (but you know it's going to be bad). It seems to me the metaphor is quite apt. Personally, I didn't feel like the usage detracted from the article at all. I'm not sure why it causes such a strong feeling of "hate". Mild disappointment perhaps, but hate?