Chris Hyndman of Steven and Chris has died

[Magdalyn]

If Chris Hyndman hid his pain and sorrow for decades from Steven, his mom, and his friends...he deserves an award for the most incredible life lived under a flamboyant umbrella. Robin Williams broke down from time to time and people very close to him did know about his issues. Chris lived out loud and his emotions were worn on his sleeve. He wasn't pretending to be funny, emotional, and happy, imo He was quite genuine from what I have read and heard from people who knew him.

RBBM

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/10/08/personality-may-hide-depression/19358.html

“We found the signs of depression were more likely to be missed in people with an outgoing, extraverted personality.”

The researchers also found that friends and family missed signs of depression in a person characterized as “agreeable,” someone who is more trusting and more altruistic or who might be considered a conformist.

“It is important for people to understand that people who are highly extraverted and highly agreeable can become depressed and that the signs of depression for these people are more likely to be missed or detected by friends and family,” Duberstein said.

http://www.recoveryranch.com/articles/therapy/depression/

In a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center found that most people whose depression was successfully hidden from others were people who had an outgoing, agreeable, and extraverted personality. Most people stereotype a depressed person as someone who seldom laughs or smiles, wants to be alone, is grouchy, and who mopes around with a melancholy posture.

These patients would spend exhausting days working up the energy to smile and laugh, while inside they were in mental pain and anguish.

Suicide can be a particular threat for individuals suffering with smiling depression. Typically, people suffering with classic, severe depression might have suicidal thoughts, but not the energy to act on their feelings. However, those suffering from smiling depression have the energetic ability to plan and follow through. This is why smiling depression can be more dangerous than a classic form of severe depression.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-guest-room/201411/smiling-depression

 

[katydid23]

I don't think we need to make new regulations forcing people to raise the fence levels on rooftop gardens. I think people should do that themselves if one of them has a problem with sleepwalking or maybe with drugs/alcohol. JMO

 

[MagickMaker]

At first I did not give much credence to the sleepwalking idea .... I thought it was a smoke screen .... but now I read what his mom said ....

(the mother of) .... Chris Hyndman believes her only child fell to his death while sleepwalking on the terrace of his penthouse

Plus Steve said he was asleep and the police came knocking on his door to tell him , so that sounds legit.

So if Chris was wearing sleeping attire it may help confirm .... next thing I would be curious about are prints or evidence of him going over the rail , I do not think it was a simple fall , there is a substantial ledge outside the railing ... it would have to be a purposeful climb over the railing , plus a step or two across the ledge.

One thing I noticed is that there is a side rail that has no ledge at all. And below that side, is where his body was found. In this Google earth shot, you can clearly see the gray ledge along the front of the garden, but the left side (that overlooks the laneway) had no ledge whatsoever. If you've seen the video, then you know he must have fallen from that ledge-less side.

For me, it makes the sleepwalking theory more plausible.

The first photo shows the instagram he posted showing the placement of items on the balcony. You can see the fountain in the Google earth shot for orientation and can see the rail has no ledge behind the black feature wall.

 

[winkipinki]

Since none of us Actually know Chris it isn't useful to make assumptions about his emotional state or how he may or may not have hid his emotions or what his life was like behind closed doors. It's not news that some of the funniest and outwardly engaging people are also those that live a private life of depression and turmoil. I'm not saying that's the case but we really don't know what he was like the other 23 hours of his day when not on tv.
Having said that I still maintain that until someone other than his Mother comes forward with this sleepwalking theory I struggle to believe it. However she is the only one that has given us the information that his death was caused by a fall. Before her statement we only knew he was found in an alley.

 

[Sherwood Park]

For those who are still skeptical of the ability to sleepwalk one's self right off of a roof or balcony, here is a similar tragic story from the U.K. from 2014. Despite what one of the not so knowledable "sleep experts" stated in one of the articles posted on this thread, people who sleep walk are fully capable of doing "complex" things such as opening a door, opening a fridge, driving, walking down stairs, you name it!
This gentleman unfortunately fell from a balcony while likely sleepwalking

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...g-estimator-suffered-condition-childhood.html

 

[Sherwood Park]

I recently saw a 48 Hours episode (Fall from Grace) where what really happened is still unresolved -- manner of death changed from suicide to undetermined, it was investigated and (and false[?] confessed) as a homicide -- but the parents of the deceased daughter have come to differing opinions over the course of the investigation. The mother, and police, still believe Bethany was murdered; the father now believes she had become deeply depressed and it was a suicide. They (the parents) can't both be right. One of their beliefs/parental gut instincts is wrong. And they both loved her deeply and knew her very well...or thought they did. So.....

Chris's mom could be right. His mom could be wrong. They can't get him back either way. Her beliefs and his husband's beliefs may or may not mesh with what really happened. They each need to believe what they each need to believe to come to grips with their grief.

Nobody really wants to believe their loved one suffered, whether we're talking about whether or not someone died instantly after a fall from a building, hit by a train, or a car accident; no one wants to think their loved one suffered silently, and hid depression, did they miss the signs/could they have saved them...

So many times on these forums I, and many others, hope against hope that a child was unconscious when they were raped and murdered. We're almost always wrong. But we still hope. It's human nature to hope for the least suffering for those we love/feel empathy for.

I think people don't know enough about sleep walking so it is difficult for people to believe that someone could sleep walk to their death. It makes more sense and brings more comfort to people to believe a fall was suicide rather than sleep walking. Sleep walking sounds strange to people, but it's a real disorder.

Here is the story of the tennis player who sleep walked his way right through a hotel window in Mexico and thankfully landed on some shurbs that saved his life. Had he died, there likely would have been rumours of suicide despite his mother saying that her son was a life long sleepwalker. The tennis player, Polansky survived, and thankfully he can be a witness to the fact that he was not trying to commit suicide when he sleep walked through the glass and went over the balcony at the hotel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/sports/tennis/01opening.html?_r=0

Here is another very interesting article. This mother fought to have her sons death certificate state the cause of death as sleep walking. Good for her. The article also talks about the possiblity that there are people who sleep walked to their death but it was mislabeled as suicide.
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2238362&page=2

Why don't police, medical professionals, and coroners listen to family and friends when they tell them that the person had a habit of sleep walking.

 

[HastingsChi]

I think people don't know enough about sleep walking so it is difficult for people to believe that someone could sleep walk to their death. It makes more sense and brings more comfort to people to believe a fall was suicide rather than sleep walking. Sleep walking sounds strange to people, but it's a real disorder.

Here is the story of the tennis player who sleep walked his way right through a hotel window in Mexico and thankfully landed on some shurbs that saved his life. Had he died, there likely would have been rumours of suicide despite his mother saying that her son was a life long sleepwalker. The tennis player, Polansky survived, and thankfully he can be a witness to the fact that he was not trying to commit suicide when he sleep walked through the glass and went over the balcony at the hotel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/sports/tennis/01opening.html?_r=0

Here is another very interesting article. This mother fought to have her sons death certificate state the cause of death as sleep walking. Good for her. The article also talks about the possiblity that there are people who sleep walked to their death but it was mislabeled as suicide.
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=2238362&page=2

Why don't police, medical professionals, and coroners listen to family and friends when they tell them that the person had a habit of sleep walking.

Based on the countless photos I've seen of their rooftop garden and other insights I've read I find the mother's claim he died sleepwalking completely implausible; but if it's what she needs to believe that's fine.

The signs point to suicide or Ambien side effects.

I'm not saying that sleepwalking accidents don't occur, just not in this case.

 

[toronto_allie]

This reminds me of Mike Birbiglia's portion of the This American Life episode entitled "Fear of Sleep". He sleepwalked through a closed second story window and thankfully was okay.

http://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/361/fear-of-sleep?act=1#act-1

Personally I think it's totally plausible that this was a sleepwalking incident.

 

[abstr]

As a mother of a child who slept walked I can believe it could be related to sleepwalking. I had a sleepwalker who ate, rearranged furniture,etc. The very first time I woke up to him banging on the door because he left the house and locked up scared me to death. We had alarms put in. He could shut them off in his sleep. He also once did it during the day when I was out in the garden while he was sleeping in...He had gotten half a mile away and was still asleep.....
This issue runs in my family as well as sleep terrors and it is hard to figure out with the medical professionals.
I know nothing about Chris Hyndman personally but I can see it happening. I know posters are saying that you have to put in safety protection and I did but it still was not always enough. Thank God it mostly was eating, rearranging furniture, taking stuff out of the linen closets and putting it in the china cabinets....etc.

 

[winkipinki]

When I look at the features of the roof top it looks to me like there is a ledge beyond the rail - which looks sufficiently high, and the black wall is very high. Difficult to tell height from Ariel view but I think it would take some effort to fall off. I can't imagine if you had a sleep walking issue not having some safety measures in place. But I'm sure if they malfunctioned we would have heard about that ? The only time there is as little info as this about a death is because it's suicide. If there was conclusive evidence it was sleepwalking it would be a big story. The more I think about it and the more time goes by without hearing anything the more I lean toward suicide. Why would police/media avoid reporting sleepwalking, it would be a good story !

 

[abstr]

Maybe I am out of line but I thought that nothing was to be expressed as a fact unless it is main stream media. To me it seems that that posts that you are expressing as fact should have IMOO.
Everything I say is IMOO unless I add a link.
I just wish you would not say if things were conclusive that it would be stated....you are making up facts IMOO

Somehow I didn't quote you but meant to quote you winkipinki

 

[abstr]

When I look at the features of the roof top it looks to me like there is a ledge beyond the rail - which looks sufficiently high, and the black wall is very high. Difficult to tell height from Ariel view but I think it would take some effort to fall off. I can't imagine if you had a sleep walking issue not having some safety measures in place. But I'm sure if they malfunctioned we would have heard about that ? The only time there is as little info as this about a death is because it's suicide. If there was conclusive evidence it was sleepwalking it would be a big story. The more I think about it and the more time goes by without hearing anything the more I lean toward suicide. Why would police/media avoid reporting sleepwalking, it would be a good story !

If you see my last post I meant to quote you. I just think we all need to add IMOO to our responses unless we are professionals. I went thru this for many years with one of my children but I am not an expert and I cannot give answers that are definite. It just bugs me because I know everything is an opinion without facts.

 

[Sherwood Park]

Based on the countless photos I've seen of their rooftop garden and other insights I've read I find the mother's claim he died sleepwalking completely implausible; but if it's what she needs to believe that's fine.

The signs point to suicide or Ambien side effects.

I'm not saying that sleepwalking accidents don't occur, just not in this case.

I've been reading about some of the Ambien Sleep walking, sleep eating, sleep driving, and other strange things people have done in their sleep while on Ambien. This all sounds a bit frightening. Reading people's first hand accounts of their experience with "sleep walking" is frightening. I'm glad people have been able to share their stories over the past couple of days.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/15/ambien-side-effect-sleepwalking-sleep-aid_n_4589743.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/15/business/15drug.ready.html?pagewanted=all

 

[Arnie M]

.

His mother said he had a history of sleepwalking , fine , but I would like to know if he was still doing it , and after 27 years Steve should know the answer to that , and if so , how extensive was the sleepwalking , and was having a rooftop balcony ever a concern ?

Until then , suicide is a valid possibility , the few people I knew who committed suicide were the last people I ever expected to do it.

.

 

[Sherwood Park]

.

His mother said he had a history of sleepwalking , fine , but I would like to know if he was still doing it , and after 27 years Steve should know the answer to that , and if so , how extensive was the sleepwalking , and was having a rooftop balcony ever a concern ?

Until then , suicide is a valid possibility , the few people I knew who committed suicide were the last people I ever expected to do it.

.

She has already spoken about that:
"Glenda said her son was never a restful sleeper. Living with Sabados, he would even “forage” for food in his sleep, she said. “He was caught by Steven many times eating in his sleep, absolutely … I don’t know if he ever got a restful, solid sleep.”
In 2007, Hyndman told the Star that his medicine cabinet features many items to help him sleep. “I’m obsessed with scented candles ... I have soothing, deep-breathing CDs, earplugs, natural Gravol, Tylenol PM and NyQuil every now and then,” he said at the time.
Hyndman’s mother said plans for a funeral have not been finalized.
“He shouldn’t have gone so soon, but he’s gone and we have to accept that and get past it,” she said. “He was my only baby.” "
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/08/06/chris-hyndmans-mother-believes-he-died-sleepwalking.html

 

[winkipinki]

How is linking to a random article online evidence? IMOO all we know is he's dead and his Mother (we know nothing about ) says she thinks it was sleepwalking and he fell. Citing numerous stories of sleepwalkers is no more credible than linking to numerous articles on suicide.
Before she said it was a fall the discussion was the possibility of heart attack, drug overdose, killer street pandas - who knows. IMOO if people were speculating my loved one committed suicide and they had not, I would specifically request police, private investigator, lawyer or whatever to clear up what their investigation found publicly. IMOO.

 

[Arnie M]

.

The "silence" and "requests for privacy" make me think it was not sleepwalking.

.

 

[Jasper52]

Obituary:

In Memory of Mr. Christopher Edward Hyndman March 3, 1966 - August 3, 2015

 

[colette]

.

The "silence" and "requests for privacy" make me think it was not sleepwalking.

.

This could be true, but it also could be true that the media is hounding the friends and family and they want some peace.

 

[toronto_allie]

.

The "silence" and "requests for privacy" make me think it was not sleepwalking.

This seems like a pretty normal request for someone in the public eye who is in mourning. In my opinion it doesn't say anything about the case at all.