Susan Schneider Reveals the Real Reason Behind Robin Williams' Suicide: "We Were Living a Nightmare"

Wife of Mrs. Doubtfire actor sits down for first televised interview since husband's death

By Samantha Schnurr Nov 03, 2015 3:16 PMTags

Today on Good Morning America: Robin Williams' widow Susan Williams speaks out for the first time since his untimely passing: "No one could have done anything more for Robin...everyone did the very best they could." http://abcn.ws/1WrJQz5

Posted by Good Morning America on Tuesday, November 3, 2015

While fans worldwide believed that Robin Williams committed suicide because of depression, Susan Schneider is now revealing her husband's true killer. 

As his partner for seven years, the widow of America's beloved comedian is setting the record straight on William's private medical battles, detailing for the first time his post-death diagnosis with Lewy Body Dementia. 

"It was what was going on inside of his brain—the chemical warfare that no one knew about," William's third wife told Good Morning America's Amy Robach in a taped interview Tuesday morning. 

While the Oscar-winning actor was not diagnosed with the form of dementia until after an autopsy was completed following his suicide in August 2014, Schneider told Robach the 63-year-old screen legend exhibited signs of mental disarray years before his untimely death. 

"In November of 2013, he had a little gut pain. Next month, it was another symptom. It was like this endless parade of symptoms and not all of them would raise their head at once. It was like playing Whack-a-Mole. Which symptom is it this month?" Schneider recollected. "I thought, 'Is my husband a hypochondriac?' We're chasing it and theres no answer. By now we tried everything."

The months of visible depression, anxiety, and paranoia led to a diagnosis that Williams was in the early stages of Parkinson's disease. However, according to Schneider, it was his undiagnosed mental illness that truly led him to take his own life. 

"Lewy Body Dementia killed Robin," she said definitively. "It's what took his life and that's what I've spent the last year trying to get to the bottom of."

Kevin Mazur/WireImage

While they did not know the culprit behind his mental battle at the time, Schneider says her husband knew something was definitely wrong from the start. 

"He was aware of it. He was keeping it together as best as he could, but the last month he could not. It was like the dam broke." she said, adding that while he was scheduled to go for neurocognitive testing around the time of his death, she believes his suicide was his way of regaining control. "I think he was just saying no and I don't blame him one bit."

After her assistant found him unconscious in their home, Schneider rushed to the scene to see her husband for one of the very last times. 

"I got to tell him I forgive you with all my heart," she remembered. "You're the bravest man I've ever known."

Now, more than a year after that day, she reflects on their relationship with the utmost fondness. 

"It's the best love I ever dreamed of. You know, its what I always dreamed a love would be," she said, later adding, "My favorite movie of Robin Williams was Robin Williams being a human being, not an actor—the best movie in the world."

If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Watch: E! Looks Back at Robin Williams in 1990