THE HILARIOUS WORLD OF DEPRESSION
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Author bio
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If you struggle with depression or are just interested in it, and if you want to know how other people deal with it, this article can be interesting for you, because here we discuss a famous show about depression, called “The hilarious world of depression.”
About “The Hilarious World of Depression”
Many people have periods in life when they feel sad, but if the constant sadness takes for weeks or months, then it is depression.
Depression is a common disease experienced by millions of people around the world.
“The hilarious world of depression” is a show about clinical depression created by an American writer and veteran humorist, public radio host John Moe.
It is aimed to show people that they are not alone struggling with medical illness.
“The hilarious world of depression” involves a series of honest, funny conversations with famous comedians who have struggled and overcome the depression.
You can join guests like Andy Richter, Maria Bamford, Jen Kirkman, and Paul F. Tompkins, to know how they have dealt with depression and learned to laugh along the way.
You may have never experienced depression, but you could see your family member, relative, or a neighbor suffering from it.
The show “The hilarious world of depression” could ease their struggle, so you could recommend them to listen to the involved conversations.
Please do not get it wrong – the show is not for therapy or medication.
It gives a chance to realize that people who suffer from depression, are not alone, and that sharing experiences and laughing, you can feel a little better.
The Stuff of “The Hilarious World of Depression”
- Producer – Kryssy Pease (American Public Media),
- Host – John Moe (American Public Media),
- Director, News content development – Kate Moos (American Public Media),
- Program Director Jonathan Blakley (MPR),
- Producer – Kryssy Pease (American Public Media),
- Host – John Moe (American Public Media),
- Project manager – Lauren Dee (American Public Media),
- Director, Business development – Diana Flotten (American Public Media),
- Creative manager – Sladjana Dirakovic (American Public Media),
- Communications manager – Meggan Ellingboe (American Public Media),
- Director, Digital Products – Peter Rasmussen (American Public Media).
Top 10 great moments from “The Hilarious World of Depression” 2017
Positive thinking
“I thought, ‘I cannot do comedy as a trans person..’ Luckily, I had a friend who was sending me links and telling me I had to come to New York to do it. So that was very helpful, to have people around me who are like ‘It is possible, do not lead with your apprehension. Do not lead with your eghegh. “- Patti Harrison
Being the Child of an Addict
“My mother (God bless her heart) was an addict when I was in high school. Moreover, since our emotional language comes from our parents, whatever they are stuck on, we are as well. As a result, I was not aware of mental health issues for a long time. As a kid, you compartmentalize. You think you deserve to be treated, however, you are. Being a child of an addict is a surefire way to have some anxiety or depression as you get older. “- Baron Vaughn
Hiding
“I did not tell anyone about the OCD thoughts until I was 35 because I felt so ashamed of what they were. However, then I googled my thoughts and. It turns out, OCD sites came up. That is why I love the internet. Anything you are worried about, you type it in, and someone has already done it, they have written a book about it.” – Maria Bamford
Reckoning with truth
“When my dad admitted he did not love me, it made me feel better. It was both excruciating and liberating. It meant I was not crazy.” – Neal Brannon
The link between anxiety and depression
“Anxiety and depression are closely related. For me, depression comes in to help manage the anxiety. Moreover, no, it does not do a great job of it.” – Aimee Mann
Writing
“I have often thought of writing as that childhood pool game Marco Polo, but I am in my basement for 4 or 5 years just saying “Marco, Marco, Marco” over and over again, waiting for that one person to say Polo back.” – John Green
Anxiety and people-pleasing
“When I was around 12 or 13 years old, anxiety started for me. Attention became uncomfortable. I began to feel I was not doing things for myself as much as doing things other people expected me to do. For example, it was important to the adults in my life that I do teen magazines. I did not want to do that. It felt like a distraction. I just wanted to make-believe.” – Wil Wheaton
Being misperceived
“I was not an aggressive person. I did not have that great instinct. I was very timid. I just happened to be born into this was this 6 foot 6, 240-pound body. I was very athletic, and I could run fast and jump high, but my mental makeup was more like Richard Lewis.” – Gary Gulman
Dealing with other people
“I am a snob about depression. I think we are superior.” – Jen Kirkman
Suicide
\”If you look at the Venn diagram for people who have bipolar disorder, people who are addicts and alcoholics, and people who have tried to commit suicide, statistically you could have guessed…It would have been a pretty safe guess that I would have attempted suicide. “- Ana Marie Cox and John Moe
John Moe and “The Hilarious World of Depression”
“Depression wants you to stay quiet, and alone, and ashamed. That way, it can fester. Diseases love to fester,” says Moe about his podcast’s subject.
At the beginning of the episode, J. Moe tells that he has had two companions during his entire life: depression and comedy; since childhood, he experienced joy and despair.
Moe talks about his comic education with love, touching all the names of people who helped us to look at the world differently.
It turns out that Moe had not been clinically diagnosed with depression until he was an adult.
He mentions that he was surprised finding out that it is so healthy to talk and share mental illness experience.
Moe’s public radio colleague Peter Sagal had expressed his wish to be on the show, which was unexpected for Moe, as he did not know that his friend was depressive.
Sagal seems joyful on “Wait, wait, do not tell me,” but in the case of depression, things that are seen on the surface are not always real.
In “The hilarious world of depression,” Sagal says that he was not diagnosed as a clinical depressive by psychiatrists; he figured it out.
Sagal grew up feeling uncomfortable, and being an adult, he discovered that comedy and theatre gave him tools to manage his depression.
Recommended books and sources
- Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
- Making Peace with Depression: A warm, supportive little book to lift the low mood and reduce despair.
- Song for the podcast “The Hilarious World of Depression.”
- The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness (Book & CD)
- “The Hilarious World of Depression” on Spotify
- “The Hilarious World of Depression” Returns for a Third Season
- “The Hilarious World of Depression” Returns for Season Four
Conclusion
If you are struggling with depression and you feel lonely, the show “The hilarious world of depression” can be useful for you, helping you to perceive the disease a bit lighter with laughter.
References
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