r/breakingbad • u/Boring_Elevator3817 • 9h ago

RJ Mitte (Walt Jr) has passed 😥

Wow, I was shocked to hear this. They are saying it was suicide. So sad. He was only 34 years old. RIP, Flynn ❤️

19.4k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

2.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

344

u/Big-Horse3925 8h ago

Living with a lifelong disease, even one that's "totally manageable and you can totally live a perfectly normal life!", isn't a struggle most people understand either, let alone one that significantly, visibly impacts your life, too. I wouldn't doubt that could play a significant part in it.

85

u/BarderBetterFaster 7h ago

I imagine it's similar to chronic pain. You can't understand how much that takes from you until you've lived it. Waking up and having to fight through every day just to maintain normalcy takes a heavy toll.

•

u/ZENKFNOR 1h ago

not-at-all-fun-fact: CP often causes chronic pain!

69

u/lilphoenixgirl95 8h ago

Yeah. It's never anywhere near as manageable as people tell you/think/expect from you.

97

u/NearlyImpressive 8h ago

As a person with mild cerebral palsy (more mild than RJ's) its a continuous struggle even if its not a visible one. His representation was awesome. Really sad to hear his passing.

13

u/lilphoenixgirl95 7h ago

Nice to hear from you and your perspective as someone affected by his condition. I have severe classical Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome so I know the struggle well, especially as most people don't even know what it is/how serious it is. It's not visible because I've learnt to push through extreme pain, but lately that's backfired and the severe spasms in my legs/hips/back and failure of my ankle ligaments is making it obvious to people when I try to stand or walk, and I'm only 30.

4

u/NearlyImpressive 6h ago

I'm only mildly educated in your condition but we do seem to share similar struggles with pain. I am sorry you are going through this. I too have a long list of other physical conditions that make my silent struggle worse. To name a few: like arthritis in the spine, mild scoliosi, heart, lung disease probablyforgetting a few) that I just keep collecting as I get older (I am also 30)

No one would suspect a thing if they noticed me in the wild. Most people just notice how tired I am.

•

u/Optiguy42 4h ago

I have a friend with EDS and while it sounds like it's not as severe as yours, I've seen firsthand how much it fucking sucks. Going out for the day using a cane but needing to plan ahead to see if there are wheelchair options in case the walking is too much. Consistent pain that no one can actually see. And just a general lack of public knowledge about the condition. It's very frustrating and disheartening. He "pushes through it" like you and I just worry it's too much sometimes.

I hope you're doing well and I hope that more folks become aware of the condition and its impact.

•

u/Big-Horse3925 4h ago

I have a congenital disease that affects my diet to an extreme extent, and people never realize how much it screwed up my childhood to not be able to share something they take for granted in regards to socializing with other kids their age during their childhood (I was ostracized during school lunch, birthdays, etc, constantly because of my diet and having to drink a "formula" like a baby into adulthood...). It's given me lifelong issues I will always struggle with, even if I'm cured some day. Now imagine a disease that prevents you from doing like 95% of things other kids do, and all the constant struggles, and other issues it brings.

I'm sorry you've also had to struggle, and I hope we can find more cures for genetic/congenital diseases some day. Maybe in the next 20-30 years we'll see some cure where you can just give a fetus an injection and completely fix any serious issues from early on in development. Hopefully.

7

u/Abigboi_ 7h ago

Most people dont get chronic illness until they do.

1

u/GiantPandammonia 7h ago

He actually had cerebral palsy? I thought he was acting and I was always super impressed by his portrayal.  Must suck having a disability and playing a character with the same disability whose role in a show is making the main character's life suck more by being their disabled kid.  

10

u/geek_of_nature 7h ago

He did. He didn't need to use crutches like his character did, but that was his actual voice he was using in the show.

•

u/ionlyjoined4thecats 2h ago

He played up the speech impediment a bit iirc.