Return to Transcripts main page

Dr. Drew

Robin Williams Dead at 63

Aired August 11, 2014 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DR. DREW PINSKY, HLN HOST: We are here on a sad night tonight. I`m joined by my co-host Samantha Schacher.

Breaking news: tragic death of actor Robin Williams, believed to be suicide complicated by asphyxiation, as the cause of death. His

representative confirms Williams died this morning. He had been battling depression for an extended period of time. We know from his representative

also, he had sought treatment of some kind just last month. Reason unclear to me.

Listen what Robin Williams said about his struggle with addiction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Even when he talked about his battles with drugs and alcohol, he talked about it with humor.

LARRY KING: You were drunk.

ROBIN WILLIAMS, ACTOR: That`s nice of you to say that.

REPORTER: He took two trips to rehab, the most recent one in 2006. A process he talked about on "Larry King Live" in 2007.

WILLIAMS: What happens is people start the process of saying no and being among others, you know, and learning that you`re not alone and

working on giving up.

KING: Do you lose your sense of humor in it?

WILLIAMS: No. You find it. You`re with people who have a great sense of humor.

KING: So you`re funny there, too?

WILLIAMS: Oh, yes. You got to be --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: Joining us, Leeann Tweeden, social commentator, host of "Tomboy`s Podcast" on Blog Talk Radio, HLN`s Yasmin Vossoughian, Judy Ho,

clinical psychologist, professor at Pepperdine University, and Jane Velez- Mitchell from HLN`s "JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL".

Yasmin, give us the details of what we know so far.

YASMIN VOSSOUGHIAN, HLN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, honestly, we don`t know a lot so far. But what we know is that Robin Williams was found dead

in his home earlier today. We don`t know the details. We are -- it is emerging that it may have been due to asphyxiation. But we don`t

necessarily know why he was found dead. We know that she was struggling with depression and of course he struggled with alcohol abuse in the past.

He just recently reentered rehab this past summer, but he did not say it was due to the relapse of addiction. It was more to maintain his

sobriety, Dr. Drew.

So, we don`t know a lot beyond what I just mentioned.

PINSKY: Jane, I want to talk to you about this, because what Yasmin just reported on was precisely what he representative had said back in the

summer, and to me that was doing him and anybody else with a mental disturbance a severe disservice. You don`t go into a -- some sort of

treatment program. We might have gone in for depression that was threatening his recovery.

Now, he might have gone to a hospital for depression that was threatening his recovery. But why can`t we talk about that? Why can`t we

be more direct? Suddenly the term rehab covers everything from sober living to psychiatric hospitalization.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: Well, you could say, Dr. Drew, when you`re Robin Williams you can maybe change the rules of the game and

perhaps he did go into some kind of center to maintain his sobriety.

But the bottom line is, I think the question is was his history of addiction and we know when you`re an addict, you`re never cured. All you

have is a daily reprieve. Is it connected to his depression and his representatives saying he was battling severe depression? And you don`t

have to go out and start drinking and using again to sort of fall off the wagon. It`s all up here.

The slip occurs long before the first drink or the first drug if you`re not working your program of sobriety. I think sometimes, for a lot

of celebrities, it`s very difficult. They can`t just start opening up in front of strangers and spilling their guts in the way that people often

need to do to clean out the system and maintain their sobriety.

And so, often, you kind of could feel trapped and be on what they called a dry drunk. Technically sober but emotionally grappling with some

things.

So, I think it`s a very complicated issue. My heart goes out to his family. All we have -- I speak as a recovering alcoholic is today. It

doesn`t matter how many years you have. Look at Philip Seymour Hoffman, I`m not saying there`s a connection between the two.

But you see so many people with many years, decades of sobriety, go out -- either go out by drinking and using or go out by not working the

program to the extent that they`re happy, joyous and free.

PINSKY: Sam?

SAMANTHA SCHACHER, CO-HOST: Yes, it`s so sad, Dr. Drew, because we`re still afraid to have the dialogue. Even in the media we`re afraid because

of the shame and it`s stigmatized. And so many people think if you`re wealthy or famous or you`re talented that you don`t deal with these issues

and it somehow equates to happiness.

But depression, addiction, mental illness, it does not discriminate and obviously in this case here, it is absolutely such a tragedy.

PINSKY: Judy, he had --

VOSSOUGHIAN: Dr. Drew --

PINSKY: Yasmin, go ahead. Yes?

VOSSOUGHIAN: I just want to say one thing. I actually interviewed Robin Williams a couple of times on the red carpet, and one of the things

that sort of came to my attention, when I was interviewing him, he was the kind of guy that was always on. He was like -- he walked up to you and he

says, it was as if he had to be Robin Williams, the one we know and love and see on the movies every single day.

And I remember thinking in one of those moments how difficult it is to be that guy, to have every eye on you waiting for you to be that person and

perform at that high capacity.

PINSKY: Not only that --

VOSSOUGHIAN: And the amount of pressure that you live under being someone like Robin Williams. You look at Chris Farley, you look at Jim

Belushi, they all faced somewhat of a similar ending.

PINSKY: What Jane was pointing out, not only does he have to maintain that sort of energy, but also in recovery, people are going to want him to

be Robin Williams as opposed to Robin Williams the person.

Judy, help me out here.

Leeann I want to go to you before we finish. I know you actually toured with him.

But, Judy, help me get people to understand this depression in his case was probably multi-factorial. He`d had cardiac surgery. That`s a

major risk factor for depression. He had been diagnosed with a bona fide major depressive episode, which suggests some genetics. What Jane mentions

is how addiction and depression are tightly wound.

At least three reasons for depression.

JUDY HO, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: That`s right, Dr. Drew. And the alcoholism and the drug addition and depression, they all fuel each other.

So, oftentimes what we find with people when they become depressed is they will turn to substances because it gives them a temporary reprieve from

their suffering, from their emotional struggles.

And so, as you start to go down the road, you look at Robin Williams and you think his life is wonderful, why would he be depressed? It`s all

about the way that these people interpret their reality. So, if he feels like there`s something missing, perhaps he`s responding to the pressure

that he feels, he`s going to go down the road where he starts to think really, really negative thoughts, then that`s going to lead to behaviors

that actually spur the depression, then he`s in this negative cycle that he cannot himself get out of.

PINSKY: Leeann, I know you toured the world with him visiting troops.

LEEANN TWEEDEN, SOCIAL COMMENTATOR: Multiple times.

PINSKY: Multiple times, and he is someone that I would use a word that I don`t often use as it pertains to public figures. But he is

somebody that I think everybody loved. He either had an act or played some character or was in some movie that everybody is attached to in some way.

TWEEDEN: I think (AUDIO GAP) Dr. Drew. I mean if you look at his movies, like -- I was just listening to CNN earlier. There`s a movie for

everyone whether you`re -- he was born in the `50s. So, obviously, he has fans his age and all the way down to young kids that are just discovering

some of his movies, you know?

PINSKY: Leeann, my kids knew him as Peter Pan. He was their Peter Pan. He was it.

TWEEDEN: The "Mrs. Doubtfire" days.

PINSKY: Yes.

TWEEDEN: The one thing that I`ll say about, Robin, what a good man. He was a good person. He was genuine. One that I didn`t realize about him

until hi met him and got to spend time with him was that -- this picture is my husband and me with Robin. He flew us out of Iraq in 2004. I`ll always

have that memory of him flying with my husband and me.

Robin was so smart that -- I mean, obviously, to be a comedian and to be like him, you have to be super smart. You have to be able to put things

together like in nanoseconds, you know, because he would see something funny and translate that right away. And when we were visiting troops, we

went on in 2003, right when they caught Saddam Hussein, and he was able to come up with these jokes like right off the tip of his tongue to 10,000

people in a hangar that haven`t seen home, that war just started and he would just bring this light and everyone was laughing. You were dying on

stage.

And the one thing that I will say that I noticed that was a little different than one of our guests just said, I saw him have private moments.

I thought he was always going to be on the too. I thought he was going to hyper Robin Williams all the time.

He would be in the corner -- we flew on Air Force Two. He would be in the corner reading a book and be so quiet that we would be concerned about

him and we were look over, and we`re like, Robin, are you OK? Are you cool? And he was like, oh, yes, just cool, you know?

So, he had his moments. But I think it was because his was within a secure moment where people were around him that it was just a small group

of us and he felt like he could let his guard down and he felt like he didn`t have to be Robin Williams.

But what a good man! He was one of the first huge celebrities that could fill the footsteps of Bob Hope and went and supported our troops in

the beginning of these wars when no one else would.

PINSKY: All right. We`re going to keep this moment. More on the tragic apparent suicide of Robin Williams this morning, at the age of 63.

Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I you were president, what would you do?

WILLIAMS: First of all, there would be a fat tax. I`m not saying ten pounds here or there. If you`re 60 or 80 pounds over weight, you pay by

the pound. And just helps, you know, releases that idea that you pay by the pound, just to kind of -- it`s not going to be much. It`s a bit like

chopped liver. You pay by the pound. Just to help with some of the programs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: That interview was from a 2006 press junket for the movie "Man of the Year."

Back with Sam, and our behavior bureau, Judy, Erica America, TV host, psychotherapist and Leeann Tweeden. We`re talking about the tragic death

of actor comedian Robin Williams. The sheriff suspects suicide by asphyxiation.

Judy, let`s try to make sense for people what -- when you put the pieces together here they say definitely suicide so there must be some

evidence that he was motivated to do this, this it wasn`t foul play. And when they say asphyxiation, they don`t say drug overdose. They say

asphyxiation, what comes to mind for you?

HO: Well, that means he probably suffocated himself either by hanging or putting his head in a bag. You know, there`s a lot of other types of

ways that somebody can have this asphyxiation result.

But obviously they`re not thinking that substance was the primary factor. Maybe he did have some substances. We don`t know yet. We`re

going to see the toxicology report.

PINSKY: Well, Judy, with substances, you can asphyxiate, you can vomit and choke on your vomit, whatnot, but they would still say they would

call it a drug overdose.

HO: That`s right.

PINSKY: Yes, this is not that. The more common thing is, it`s really hard to hear this. When I first put it all together, I was like oh no, I

don`t know that I want to say this. But you worry that it`s going to end up being a hanging.

For me, Judy, that means an impulse that came over him. That`s not usually a planned thing, like I got a gun or I got pills together. This is

an impulsive act. If only people had been around.

Help people understand that you can get through this periods when suicidality is so intense.

HO: That`s right. This is an impulse as you described, Dr. Drew. And it does pass. All of our emotions pass. They`re like waves in the

ocean.

Unfortunately, when you`re in the middle of it, it doesn`t feel like it`s going to get better. And, actually, one of the most disturbing

statistics about suicide that I learned early on in my training, is that oftentimes it`s when they seem like they`re starting to do better, like

they`re recovering a bit, that`s when suicide is most imminent because they finally have the energy and the will power to carry out whatever they were

thinking about.

PINSKY: Yes, the result.

PINSKY: And, Sam, some people get angry. There`s actually a survival`s anger that goes on. How could they do that to their family?

But in the disturbed thinking, the thinking is broken when somebody is this depressed and if somebody using substances gets doubly broken. But

the thinking is my family is much better without me. It would be such a relief for them. Thankfully, I won`t be around to make them so miserable,

Sam.

SCHACHER: But it`s hard for us to understand that, though, Dr. Drew. I get that, believe me. Being around you and people like Dr. Judy Ho. But

if I were to lose a loved one to suicide, I, too, would too be angry. I would feel like they`re abandoning me.

And I know that that`s wrong, and that`s due to the stigma, and we don`t have dialogues to this.

But, Dr. Drew, before went to break you mentioned heart disease. I was not aware that heart disease could somehow contribute to depression and

suicide.

PINSKY: Oh, yes. Judy is nodding her head vigorously. In fact, it can be a presenting symptom of cardiac disease.

I spent 20 years work in a psychiatric hospital where one of my responsibilities was to do medical clearances on people because medical

problems very commonly either masquerade as psychiatric problems, precipitate, complicate psychiatric problems. I had a couple of dramatic

cases, where people -- I just had a funny feeling, I forget what the symptoms were that made me think for clearly that it could be a cardiac

issue. And they end up, you know, having a serious cardiac problem presenting as depression.

And, Erica, I suspect you`re aware of the data that people after cardiac surgeries were very prone to depression.

ERICA AMERICA, Z100: Yes, absolutely. I think there was a combination of things going on, he had the mental illness, the severe

depression, combined with the addiction and then the major open heart surgery. Like you said, you`re literally breaking your heart open and many

people have severe depression or their depression returns after such an invasive procedure.

PINSKY: Well, it`s not even that. Some people -- Judy, back me up to this -- sometimes it`s suspected that it`s some sort of biological event.

Yes, you`re vulnerable because your chest is open and, yes, you can feel worried about your survival. But there apparently is something biological

about having your chest open that predisposes to depression, perhaps mediated by the (INAUDIBLE).

HO: That`s right, Dr. Drew. So oftentimes, when we look at this, we`ll see a type of depression that`s actually precipitated as you

mentioned by a biological process or a medical event. And oftentimes it does escape our detection, about which one is really prominent, which one

led to which. But clearly, it`s going to complicate the issues that are there already that he`s been dealing with for a long time.

PINSKY: Leeann, did you see any evidence other than him sort of slowing down and sort of -- you know, you sort of described him going into

a corner by himself. Did that strike him -- you said everyone got a little worried about if his affect or mood dropped? Did you see anything?

TWEEDEN: Well, I think it was more we were so used to Robin Williams, so used to him being -- you know, I`m a very hyper person, I was born this

way, don`t drink caffeine and I speak a lot and I speak very fast. And that`s how he is.

And we just -- you know you expect that of him and then you see him in the corner. But I will tell you this -- he thought about his kids. I mean

he would -- his assistant brought a sat phone and he would call his children every single night no matter if we were in Iraq, no matter if we

were in Kuwait, no matter if we were in Germany and he would talk to his kids before they went to bed every single night.

So, I knew how important these children were. They were his life. So, those are the things I can talk about that I knew about him, that I

would see -- he would talk about them. You know, he said fatherhood changed him. You know, it made him a different person.

And I think that had a lot to do with, you know, kicking the habit of drugs and alcohol. The first time it was because, all of the sudden, he

became a dad.

PINSKY: Motivated him.

TWEEDEN: You have human beings you have to be responsible for and I think it changed his mood and his thinking about life.

PINSKY: Are his kids adults now?

TWEEDEN: Yes, they are adults. I think one is 25 and one is either a little younger or a little older.

PINSKY: I have had patients, I`m sure, Erica and Judy, you had this experience, too, the family gets very worried by the magnitude of the

depression and starts asking, would you ever think about hurting yourself and I`ve had many patients that eventually commit suicide that repeatedly

say I could never do that, I know what it would do to my family. Impossible. And yet, in that state, when they become so suicidal, it just

happens.

HO: That`s right, Dr. Drew. And what happens when you`re that depressed is actually it is a selfish disorder, because you become so

entrenched in your own thoughts.

PINSKY: Judy, I`m going to say this -- I`m not going to let you get away with that. Because I`m going to say, I challenge anybody to have an

extreme pain of any type, whether it`s emotional or your limb being cut off, whatever it is, try not to be selfish when you`re in overwhelming

pain. You don`t -- you can`t see past your body boundary because that`s the sway our central nervous system works.

Go ahead.

HO: And that`s when you to actually force yourself to get out there and do something for the people to actually reconnect again. That`s what

gets you out of your depression and not those self-deflating thoughts.

PINSKY: Others, other, others. We need to help them, they need to reach out to us.

We`re going to continue this conversation about depression, addiction and the tragedy of Robin Williams today, age 63. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: It`s such an interesting thing to do. I also couldn`t pass it up, working with Al Pacino, Christopher Nolan, Hillary Swank just to see

Hillary. Wow, pretty girl. Walked ten miles in the snow just to stand in her garbage. See. She heard me. She makes that noise and I don`t need

the leash.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: That was from an interview 2002 for the movie "Insomnia."

Back with Sam, Judy and Leeann, joining us Vanessa Barnett from HipHollywood.com.

We`re talking about the death this morning of actor/comedian Robin Williams. The sheriff suspects suicide by asphyxiation.

And, Vanessa, I`ve not heard from you yet. You`ve been listening to what we`ve been saying here. We`ve been trying to help people understand

how depression and how addiction relates to that, and how depression can overwhelm somebody who brings all of us so much joy.

VANESSA BARNETT, HIPHOLLYWOOD.COM: Right. And I`ve listened and still trying to work through. It`s a struggle for me to understand how

someone who has sought treatment and, you know, came out of treatment but then went back and by all accounts from his publicist, you know, it was

just a maintenance thing. But then you`re saying this something like this type of suicide can come so suddenly, and it`s still hard for me to

understand.

His last tweet was to his daughter. And I know that Leeann said he loved his children dearly. I`m not trying to say he doesn`t. But it`s

really hard for me to wrap my mind around he could take his life knowing he leaves those children and the wife.

PINSKY: And tweet, what did the tweet say? You know, I didn`t see it.

BARNETT: It was her birthday, it was a happy birthday tweet, 25 years old and always be my baby.

PINSKY: Judy, having dealt with so many people that deal with these illnesses, that just breaks my heart even more, because I know they don`t

want to leave their kids behind. I know they have no intentions of hurting anybody else. It`s just the magnitude that happens to the brain when it`s

in this state.

I appreciate Vanessa sort of challenging us to understand this, because it is tough for people to understand how it`s possible.

HO: That`s right, Dr. Drew. People can`t understand that you can`t will yourself out of it. It`s not like you can just --

PINSKY: Snap out of it.

(CROSSTALK)

HO: That`s right. And I think people think this, that that`s something intentional about the fact that these people continue to suffer

or have relapses into their depression or their substance issues. It`s not always controllable like that. It is a brain disease, as you`ve educated

us so many times.

And with Robin Williams, he`s had so many other complicating factors that actually made all of these issues even worse.

PINSKY: Well, made them fatal.

HO: That`s right.

PINSKY: Sam, this is the part that kills me. We`re still facing stigma -- Vanessa brought up the fact that the representatives described

him going back into rehab. We don`t even know what they mean when they say rehab, it might have been a psychiatric hospitalization, to maintain his

sobriety.

Well, there`s no such hospitalization, I`m sorry, this isn`t anything like that. It might have been depression threatening his sobriety. I

totally get that. And we should talk about it like we talk about any other addiction.

Leeann?

TWEEDEN: The other thing I thought of that was interesting that I wouldn`t have thought of Robin Williams, he actually was very good friends

with Lance Armstrong. And I remember Robin was like, oh, yes, he was a bicyclist. And I said you ride around?

And he actually did like long haul bike rides and was in -- tried to get in really good shape. So, I know some of my friends that are

recovering from addiction and things like that and they would get on a physical fitness kick, and I don`t know if that was one of the ways that he

would try to keep his life healthy.

PINSKY: They get a high from -- you know, like a runners high from the hiking and sometimes it`s to manage depression. Sometimes people`s

depression management is having structure in their life, taking stress off, and listening to classical music and reprioritizing things -- Vanessa.

BARNETT: As the family said they do want to focus on his life and they want everyone to remember, you know, how great he was which, will be

easy for us. We all have the personal connection.

But what can we do going forward. How can other people who have members in their family that are struggling, what are the warning signs?

How can we stop this from happening to someone else?

PINSKY: Judy?

HO: Well, Vanessa, great question. I think isolation is one of the warning signs, when they start backing away. And he`s failed (ph) making

their commitments and keeping them.

And the thing, family members and friends get really frustrated with people who are depressed, because they start pushing people away. They

start to kind of acting like they don`t want you around. And, of course, most people then give up, because like, hey, I don`t want to be around

somebody who doesn`t want to be around me.

But that is one of the first crucial signs that somebody is really expressed. As much as it hurts you in the moment, you have to continue to

reach out and get to the bottom of it, and that`s your responsibility as a family member. It really does take as village to keep everybody mentally

healthy.

PINSKY: Samantha, you have some tweets, yes?

SCHACHER: Yes, I do, Dr. Drew.

Our viewers have a lot of questions. So, from BJP, he tweets, "How can we get the stigma gone from this serious disease?"

PINSKY: Let is all work on it. By talking about brain disorders the way we talk about organ disorders of any other organ. Robin Williams had

cardiac disease and brain disease. The cardiac disease was serious. They treated it emergently and guess what? It did not kill him.

His brain disease killed him. That is the act fact that needs to be on the tip of everyone`s tongue. This man was robbed from us. His life

was robbed. His family was robbed. And, I say, not only it is mental illness that did that, it is the sigma of mental illness that put that all

the way in.

SCHACHER: Yes. And, I have another question too, Dr. Drew, from Charisse 256, "Why do the ones that make us laugh so much hurt so deeply

themselves. #robinwilliams."

LEEANN TWEEDEN, SOCIAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. It seems that like all the entertainers that are really good have some sort of addiction or you know

some sort of problems in their life. But, you know, Dr. Drew, I wanted to mention something. When you were talking about how people do not take

depression and mental health seriously, it is almost like when I work with wounded warriors, right?

You could be with a guy that had his legs blown off. He has freestanding on prosthetic legs and then you have a guy next to him that

might have had something just as traumatic and had PTSD and people will overlook that person and look at the guy and go, "Wow, you are wounded

warrior." When the guy next to him that is whole as a body is just as wounded.

PINSKY: You know what? And, I think it is a great way of thinking about it. And here is -- let me help people make -- Vanessa, I am going to

challenge you and see if you can do it. What if they had a traumatic brain injury? What if somebody whacked them in the head, and they were injured

and not right because of that. It is the same thing when the environment comes in on us and injuries our brain.

VANESSA BARNETT, SOCIAL COMMENTATOR: I think I can really understand that, but if I am looking at it from the opposite way, and asking why

cannot people make that connection is because, if you are wounded and you can see the physical wound, that does something different. I really

believe people, if your legs are not there or you can see the scar on someone`s chest, then you kind of get it.

But, a lot of times we talk about mental illness and how in these court cases we see all of the time how someone`s brain is not working

correctly and they go and kill someone else. There is the whole different emotion attached to it. We do not feel as sorry, if I am being very frank.

We do not feel as sorry for that person because they have in turn hurt someone else. When you have heart disease you have not hurt someone else.

HAYES: All right. We got to go to break. We will be right back with more on this after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TWEEDEN: In this picture is my husband and me with Robin. He actually flew us out of Iraq in 2004. So, I will always have that memory

of him flying with my husband and me. Robin was so smart -- I mean, obviously, to be a comedian and to be like him, you have to be super smart.

You have to be able to put things together like in than no seconds. Because he would say something funny and could translate that right away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: Back with Sam, Vanessa, Yasmin and joining us here is XM Radio, Jason Ellis. We are discussing the tragic and untimely death of

Robin Williams, trying to understand it. Authorities called to his home this morning. They suspect suicide by as asphyxiation. We know that he

had depression for many years. He also had addiction. He had been in recovery for extended periods of time and then recently had some issues

with relapse. He also had cardiac surgery, which all of which could be contributing factors. He was just 63 years old. Jason, I can see on your

face that this one hit close to home. Tell me about it.

JASON ELLIS, XM RADIO HOST: Yes. I mean, I have been in the green room this whole time. I only found out about this -- I did five minutes of

my radio show with this information. And, now I hear you talk about heart conditions. I had a heart procedure the other day. I get concussions all

of the time.

I am nowhere near as funny or as talented as this man, but I definitely live in the same world as him. And, being up and down and

having addiction problems myself, it is sad that he is gone and it is really scaring me right now because I feel like I have too much in common

with this person. And, I had no idea it had anything to do with your heart could make you swing moods in any way, whatsoever. This is all new to me.

PINSKY: It can. It does not have to, but it can. You have reached out though, my friend, have you not?

ELLIS: Yes.

PINSKY: Let is put it this way, have you taken the conditions that you are describing to us seriously or is this going to change how you

approach them?

ELLIS: This would probably make me take it a little more serious. I have this thing where I do not think I cannot be stopped. Sometimes, I

think that I am going to die tomorrow. It is two people that live in here and it is confusing at the best of times.

But, I think after your information that I heard in this show in that green room that I might want to look into a couple more things because of

how many things I have in common with this person.

PINSKY: That and including having children that you love.

ELLIS: Obviously. I mean that is really -- just what Leeann said, all he cares about is his kids. All I care about is my kids. And, I get

really dark sometimes. I feel like sometimes I could be the funniest person in the world and sometimes I do not -- I am the saddest person in

the world and I do not want to talk to anybody. That was probably about ten minutes ago in the green room when I was hearing all of this. So, it

is tough.

PINSKY: That is just because I did not say hi to you right away.

ELLIS: And, I stood off to say hello to you and you walked off. It is pretty bitter.

PINSKY: It was pretty bad.

ELLIS: I will get over it.

PINSKY: But, Vanessa, you get it? I mean, so he cannot control these moods and suppose the bottom drops out one day -- one day, because of

something he had not really factored into his mood stability or maybe he was supposed to be taking medicine or took some medicine that made me more

depressed and did not realize it would and then the bottom falls out.

BARNETT: I understand that, but I also -- I implore the medical community to do what you are doing. Why has not his doctor told him that

if you have a heart condition, you then are susceptible to these other issues? I feel like you are saying, the dialogue, there just needs to be

more conversation.

And, we do not know this. I am learning so much just like Jason, just like everyone else. You are educating me. You are educating so many

other people. But, I have a doctor. My grandmother, she has challenges with her heart right now, like I want to call her right now --

PINSKY: Call her and ask her if her mood has been off or if her medicines are affecting her moods.

BARNETT: I need this information.

PINSKY: Everyone does. Yasmin, you wanted to weigh on in on what the people were saying?

YASMIN VOSSOUGHIAN, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. I mean, ultimately, I think what is happening here is sort of brilliant. I have been looking at a lot

of the tweets come in from celebrities, right? We have Steve Martin who said, "I could not be more stunned by the loss of Robin Williams, mensch,

great talent, Acting partner, genuine soul." Maria Shriver -- Pink, Miley Cyrus -- The list goes on and on. But, there is something really huge

happening here and it is happening sadly because of a tragedy and losing someone who was a huge talent. We are recognizing a big stigma that is

attached to mental health and depression.

PINSKY: Of course. And, by the way, Yasmin, this is a guy, Sam, who was quite open. He did not seem to fall under the sway of the stigma. He

was happy to talk about his conditions. And, yet, even he, when the rubber hit the road was under enough of a stigma or somebody -- enough to end up

with a fatality.

SCHACHER: Absolutely, it contributed. And, Dr. Drew, what is so sad to hear this whole discussion is the fact that if somebody is suffering

from cancer or heart disease, we are all so quick to be supportive to that person.

But, when somebody is suffering from a mental illness, often times or addiction, people run and they treat that person like they are somehow

tainted. And, it was their choice, and then that person is left feeling guilty. And, then they can feel it --

DR. DREW: Sam, we got to leave it right there. But, that is again to use Yasmin is world, a brilliant place to leave it. Think how primitive

that thinking is to taint people whose brains are not working right on some particular day. That is a primitive man doing primitive sort of -- it is

like we want to throw the Tiki in the volcano to make -- It is that kind of primitive.

It is primitive not to be sophisticated about a common medical problem. I have to switch gears. We have a lot coming up tonight. This

now is an MMA Fighter, a wanted man for allegedly attacking his girlfriend and another person. She apparently was a porn star. They both are

hospitalized. We have a friend that is going to give us a report of what her condition is at this moment. We are going to get into that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PINSKY: Back with Sam, Vanessa, Yasmin and Jason. We are switching gears, talking about a story, police searching tonight for an MMA fighter.

Police say he attacked his girlfriend, who happened to be in the adult industry and another person as well.

Both are hospitalized with serious injuries. Here is a picture of the couple from Instagram. He is a former MMA fighter and legally change

his name to War Machine. She is a star in adult films, goes by the name Christy Mack. And, just hours ago, she posted this on Twitter. We are

going to give you a re-enactment of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTY MACK, ADULT FILMS ACTRESS: When he arrived he found myself and one other fully clothed and unarmed in the house. And, without a

single word spoken, he began beating my friend. Once he was finished, he sent my friend away and turned his attention to me.

He made me undress and shower in front of him, then he dragged me out and beat my face. My injuries include 18 broken bones around my eyes. My

nose is broken in two places. I am missing teeth and several more are broken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: Sam, this story had made a lot of attraction. This is such a sad story. Oh my god, there she is. She posted the selfie in the

hospital.

SCHACHER: This guy is a monster, Dr. Drew. On top of what she just listed, he also cut off most of her hair with a doll knife. He also

ruptured her liver. He also forced her to strip for him and then tried to rape her, but he could not perform because he broke up with her last May.

They were not even as a couple.

PINSKY: Jason -- it is just awful. Jason, this guy -- you know of this guy or you knew him? He sounds like he is in an altered state here.

ELLIS: All I knew is he tried to make it into the UFC and he did not quite cut it. He had a -- you know how people these days if you are not

the best fighter you need to market yourself with other abilities and he seemed to be an a-hole.

Before he did this people actually talked about him. He was signed to fight in another organization that I do not think he is good enough to

sign there. Because his name is War Machine that he actually got a chance to be back in the cage again. But, I think calling him a fighter, talking

about his fighting career is disgusting.

My main concern is his ex-girlfriend said in that same little thing there that he has done something like that before but never as bad as this.

And, the main thing to me, girls, if you are listening, you need help -- if somebody touches you one time, I do not care what it is for, then you just

need to break up with that person.

PINSKY: Yes. Get out.

ELLIS: Look at that. Look at what happened.

PINSKY: She could have died easily. I actually on the phone have Jenna Jameson. She is one of Christi Mack`s good friends. She just

visited her in the hospital. Jenna, thank you so much for joining us. I know you are off to get a flight. You squeezed us in here. How is your

friend doing?

JENNA JAMESON, ADULT FILM ACTRESS: Yes. I just left her side.

PINSKY: How is she doing? What happened? What can you tell us?

JAMESON: It is shocking. It is hard to take in. But I relate on every level. She cannot walk. She is unrecognizable. She only has a few

teeth left. She has broken ribs. I went through the scene where it happened and there is -- it looks like a murder seen. You can see where he

put her head through the wall.

PINSKY: And Jenna, this is just because she was visiting with some male friend in her house? Is that what triggered it?

JAMESON: Well, it was 4:30 A.M. in the morning and this person that was with her was going to be travelling with her on tour. So, whether it

was sexual or not, nothing constitutes any kind of violence.

PINSKY: Right, of course.

JAMESON: I mean, this girl, when I say she is small, she is 4`11". She is like a child. And the poor little thing -- I just feel for her.

And, my main concern here is not only the fact that she was beaten within inches of her life, but the fact that the fight community, the UFC, all of

these people are not standing up for the victim, the victim. They are standing up --

PINSKY: Wait a minute. Let me let Jason -- Jason what do you say to that?

ELLIS: Well, I am not-- you are not saying that the MMA community is backing War Machine in any way here, right?

JAMESON: Well, have you read social media lately?

ELLIS: You mean like a bunch of rats or a bunch of fans that are idiots?

JAMESON: Well, I think it would make a beautiful, a beautiful stance if someone from one of these organizations actually came out, did a press

release and said we do not stand for this. We do not allow it.

ELLIS: That is why they cut him. they fired him.

PINSKY: They fired him.

JAMES: How many other people work for Bella Tour or own part of Bella Tour that are actual people that have committed crimes against women?

ELLIS: Whoa.

PINSKY: One second, Jenna. Vanessa, you want to respond.

BARNETT: I understand where you are coming from, Jenna. But, I think we are getting a little off topic. I think the big issue here is that this

man is still on the run. He is further victimizing her. He is taken to Twitter. He is saying how he is the victim, and how his life was cursed

because this happened to him.

He is taking this beyond just what he did to her physically and he is now making a mockery of her of the situation and the law. He will not turn

himself in. I want to focus on him and the dirt that he has done.

PINSKY: You guys, I do not think any of us disagree with anything one another is saying. I think, Jenna, we are all on the same squad here. I

am concerned although, again, these are allegations. I am worried about the role of substances in all of this because it is 4:00 in the morning.

JAMESON: Well, I actually know a lot about that because I --

PINSKY: Well, Jenna, listen -- if you want to stay with us, you can stay with us for a couple of minutes. We can get into it a little bit.

But, that is one of my big concerns when I see people jacked up like this and then becoming violent. We got to take a quick break. I will have

Jenna talk to the producers and see if she wants to stay. We have more of this after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PINSKY: I am back with Sam. We are bringing in the Behavior Bureau, Judy, Leeann, and Erica. We are discussing a manhunt, an MMA fighter.

Police say he attacked his film porn star girlfriend and another person, both have been hospitalized.

I got Jenna Jamison on the phone. She is one of Christy Mack`s good friends who just visited her in the hospital. And, Jenna, we are talking

about domestic violence in a sort of setting and you said -- I have been worried about substances contributing to it particularly antibiotic,

energetic steroids. What do you know?

JAMESON: Yes. Testosterone.

PINSKY: Yes.

JAMESON: Testosterone is absolutely used by him. He was getting ready for a fight in October and that is usually the height of when they

are at their biggest rage. You know, he was good at weaning himself down off of the steroids or being able to pass the tests like a lot of the

athletes do.

And, you know, the bottom line is this poor little girl has been beaten for over a year and a half. She was frightened for her life. He

would threaten her every time he beat her. If she screamed too loud he would threaten to kill her family. He would threaten suicide. He would

cut himself. I mean the guy obviously has major, major mental issues and he was last seen in San Diego.

PINSKY: Jenna, I want to get to some of my mental health panellist here to respond. Erica?

ERICA AMERICA, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Yes. I mean this man obviously almost killed her. Thank God that he did not and we have to just remember

that this is domestic abuse and it is not acceptable.

PINSKY: It is domestic abuse and it seems like a sort of classic cycle, Judy. It may be fueled literally on steroids.

JUDY HO, PH.D., CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: That is right. And, the steroids will take the brakes off of ore inhibitions. That is what happens

in the brain, Dr. Drew, and that is going to lead to more impulse control problems.

PINSKY: And, Sam, it takes away -- it adds aggression. It just adds aggression as steroid rages.

SCHACHER: Right. And, are you reading his tweets right now alongside Judy as he was talking saying he is not a bad guy? Are you kidding me?

Not only is he a coward -- I do not want to call him a man for beating up his girlfriend to the point of her almost losing her life, but then he ran

away from the consequences.

PINSKY: Leeann, five seconds.

TWEEDEN: Yes. I talked to -- I used to host UFC tonight. I was the co-host of the show up until last year when I gave birth. So, I called all

of my friends in the UFC. They were not good friends with him but they did say he was a nut job.

PINSKY: Forensic Files begins now. Thank you, everybody.

END