Robin Williams' widow, Susan Schneider Williams, is opening up about the troubles her late husband endured before he died by suicide in 2014 and how the beloved star didn't fully understand why he was suffering.
After news of Williams' death broke, speculation emerged about how money, drugs or depression may have played a part, but Schneider Williams said there were other factors at play.
"Robin and I knew there was so much more going on. Robin was right when he said to me, 'I just want to reboot my brain,'" she told TODAY's Hoda Kotb. "In that moment I promised him that we would get to the bottom of this and I just didn't know that would be after he passed."
Schneider Williams, who shares her husband's story in the new documentary "Robin's Wish," says her husband died of Lewy body dementia, a neurological disease that "can lead to problems with thinking, movement, behavior, and mood," according to the National Institute on Aging. It's also the second-most common form of degenerative dementia after Alzheimer's disease, reports the Lewy Body Dementia Association.
"I was called in to sit down to go over the coroner's report. They sat me and down and said he essentially Robin died of diffused Lewy body dementia. They started to talk about the neurodegeneration. He wasn't in his right mind," Schneider Williams said.
"Lewy body dementia is a devastating illness. It's a killer. It is fast, it's progressive," said Dr. Bruce Miller, director Memory and Aging at the University of California San Francisco. "This was about as devastating a form of Lewy body dementia as I had ever seen. It really amazed me that Robin could walk or move at all."
Schneider Williams said finding out what led to her husband's death helped put some pieces of a puzzle together.
"I was relieved it had a name. Robin and I had gone through this experience together, really being chased by an invisible monster. And it was like whack-a-mole with the symptoms. I left there with a name of the disease, the thing that Robin and I had been searching for," she said.
The "Good Will Hunting" star had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but feared he had dementia or schizophrenia, and turned paranoid while losing his grip on reality.
"I saw a guy who wasn't himself and he thought that was unforgivable," "Night at the Museum" director Shawn Levy said in the documentary.
As his condition progressed, Williams and his wife were told by doctors to sleep in separate beds, which confused the Oscar winner.
"He said to me, 'Does this mean we're separated?' And that was a really shocking moment," Schneider Williams said. "When your best friend, your partner, your love, you realize that there's a giant chasm somewhere, and you can't see where it is. But that's just not based in reality. That was a hard moment."
Robin Williams, daughter Zelda and son Cody during "RV" Los Angeles Premiere - Arrivals at Mann Village Theatre in Westwood, California, United States. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)
HOLLYWOOD, CA - NOVEMBER 9: Robin Williams and Zelda Williams arrive at "Old Dogs" World Premiere at the El Capitan Theater on November 9, 2009 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic)
Zelda Williams and Robin Williams during Robin Williams and JoJo Visit MTV's "TRL" - April 27, 2006 at MTV Studios - Times Square in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Jason Kempin/FilmMagic)
Cody Williams and actor Robin Williams attend "A Magical Evening" hosted by The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation at The Marriott Marquis on November 12, 2007 in New York City. (Photo by L. Busacca/WireImage)
NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 18: Zak Williams and Robin Williams attend the Timo Pre Fall 2009 Launch with Interview Magazine at Phillips De Pury on November 18, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/WireImage for Timo Wallets LLC)
Robin Williams and his daughter Zelda at the The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California (Photo by Lester Cohen/WireImage)
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 05: Zelda Williams attends The Grand Opening Of SAG-AFTRA Foundation's Robin Williams Center at SAG-AFTRA Foundation Robin Williams Center on October 5, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Steve Zak Photography/WireImage)
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 05: Zachary Pym Williams and Zelda Willimas attend The Grand Opening Of SAG-AFTRA Foundation's Robin Williams Center at SAG-AFTRA Foundation Robin Williams Center on October 5, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Steve Zak Photography/WireImage)
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 05: Zachary Pym Williams attends The Grand Opening Of SAG-AFTRA Foundation's Robin Williams Center at SAG-AFTRA Foundation Robin Williams Center on October 5, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Steve Zak Photography/WireImage)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - OCTOBER 26: Zelda and Cody Williams, children of Robin Williams, take part in pre-game ceremonies before Game Five of the 2014 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals at AT&T Park on October 26, 2014 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Billy Crystal greets Robin Williams' son Zak Williams before Zak throws out the first pitch before the start of San Francisco Giants' Game 5 of baseball's World Series against the Kansas City Royals at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014.(Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group)(Digital First Media Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images)
Robin Williams and Zelda Williams arrive to the New York Premiere of "House of D" held at Loews Lincoln Square , New York City ZAK BRIAN. (Photo by Brian ZAK/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
US actress and daughter of late US actor Robin Williams, Zelda Williams arrives to attend the 18th Post-Golden Globes Party hosted by Warner Bros Pictures and InStyle at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 8, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. / AFP / LILLY LAWRENCE (Photo credit should read LILLY LAWRENCE/AFP/Getty Images)
Actor Robin Williams and his daughter Zelda pose on arrival for the world premiere of the movie 'Happy Feet Two' in Hollywood on November 13, 2011 in southern California. Happy Feet Two will presented in RealD 3D and IMAX 3D, and also in 2D, on November 18, 2011. AFP PHOTO / Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CA - NOVEMBER 13: Actors Zelda Williams and Robin Williams attend the "Happy Feet Two" Los Angeles Premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on November 13, 2011 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Lester Cohen/WireImage)
WESTWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 13: Robin Williams and Zelda Williams pose at the premiere of Magnolia Pictures' 'World's Greatest Dad' at The Landmark Theater on August 13, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD - JULY 20: Robin Williams and Zelda Williams attend the 2008 Outfest Film Festival Hosts The 14th Annual Film Competition Awards at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre on July 20, 2008 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Amy Graves/WireImage)
LOS ANGELES - JANUARY 09: (EXCLUSIVE ACCESS) Zelda Williams and Robin Williams backstage during the 33rd Annual People's Choice Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium on January 9, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for PCA)
Robin Williams and Daughter Zelda during World Premiere of "Happy Feet" - Arrivals at Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California, United States. (Photo by SGranitz/WireImage)
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"I asked him, 'When we get to the end of our lives and we're looking back, what is it we want to have done?' Without missing a beat, he said, 'I want to help people be less afraid,'" she said. "I thought it was beautiful. And I said, 'Honey, you're already doing that. That's what you do.' And that is pretty great."
