Skip to main content

100 Sad Days: Day 20; Tears of a Clown

Everyone always says "but you are always the life and soul of the party. You are always smiling. You are the last person I thought that would suffer from depression". 

I have spoken about it before: it's all about masks and putting on a face. No, that's not true, it isn't all about that. I am naturally a happy-go-lucky person. Just sometimes I am not and I used to feel the need to hide it behind larger laughs and smiles. 

Today I am looking at Comedians and why so many suffer with depression. This isn't in light of the recent sad news about Robin Williams as this blog had already been written. However I feel a need to mention him too. 

When we think of comedians and depression we think Jack Dee. His act was born out of a lack of success and he went on the stage once miserable and it took off from there. However he (as far as I know) doesn't suffer with this disease. 

I think the route of the problem lies in the mass highs. And from a great height there is always a great low. Keeping up appearances can be tiring for anyone especially those in the "funny" spotlight. I Googled comedians (and comedic actors/writers) with depression and the list is astounding:-
Caroline Aherne, Woody Allen, Drew Barrymore, Jim Carey, Ellen DeGeneres, Stephen Fry, Tony Hancock, Frankie Howerd, Hugh Laurie, Spike Milligan, Dudley Moore, Bill Oddie, Jimmy Perry, Peter Sellers, Catherine Tate, David Walliams, Ruby Wax, Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson. 

Not all admit to depression but some have commented on the hardship of being a top comedian. These include; Peter Cook, Miranda Hart, Groucho Marx, Eric Morecambe. 

Sadly some of our best comics couldn't see a way out and committed suicide (albeit in the recent case this is still just allegedly).  It seems creative and highly renowned scientific types are at risk too:-
Ray Charles; Darwin, Eminem, Gaugin, Hemingway, Keats, Matisse, Mozart, Newton, Rockefeller, Tolstoy, Twain, Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf...

Unsurprisingly those in the spotlight have struggled too:- 
Winston Churchill, Courtney Cox, Jonny Depp, Kirsten Dunst, Harrison Ford, Hepburn, Beyoncé, JK Rowling.

The lists go on and on. This isn't something you are alone in despite the fact that the disease makes you believe you are.  I am not promising there is a quick way out, but seek help and you can start to see the dim far off light at the end of a long dark tunnel. Trust me. 




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for commenting

Popular posts from this blog

100 Sad Days: Day 29 La La La

Not all abuse in a relationship is physical. Just like all illnesses are not obvious. Although they are "mental" it doesn't make them any less significant.   An Open Letter: Your words are often harsh and I let them float over my head. I know it's not you thinking. It's alcohol, it's tiredness, it's money, it's family, it's drugs, its work, it's whatever excuse I decide to label it with to move on. Sometimes they cut so deep. Putting small cracks in my heart that need love to  fill the gaps. When this happens forgiveness takes a little longer.  When it is constant the opposite happens and I pull down the shutters. I stop feeling. I stop caring. I am numb. This is when I want to never wake up.  And then there are the unforgivable things. The venomous words spat from your mouth. Not in anger. Not in rage. Just in hate and apathy.  What do I do with those?  Where do I go from there?
Post a Comment
Read more

I Hate Smoking

Let's be honest: it's a mug's game. My main memories of my Granny are of her with a cigarette in hand, of being sent to the "cabin" to buy her mentholated Dunhill. Add to that the memory of my time with my Dad shared always with a cigarette - one after the other. Of the chorus of coughing in the mornings and of now watching him struggle, with COPD, knowing this is a terminal illness that was brought upon himself. Supposedly my Grandma died of old age (but i reckon it was the cancer that got her first) and despite my Dad giving up smoking over eight years ago the years of damage have taken their toll. I chose a path away from cigarettes and I don't mind telling people how stupid I think they are for smoking - friends, family, strangers. We are all touched by cancer at some point and I recently got the all clear after twelve long years of close attention. I am thankful that it was caught before I needed anything other than day treatment and b...
Post a Comment
Read more

100 Sad Days; Day 39: Reach Out and Touch Somebody's Hand...

One of the things about depression is the fact that it doesn't matter how bad you are if you know someone is suffering you reach out to them. You don't want then to feel as bad as you so you want them to feel better.  You want them to know they are not alone and that you care. I do it all the time and I have realised, since writing this, that many others do the same.   It is like a radar. We reach out to help those that are afraid to ask for help themselves. Those we can see are suffering. And like moths to a flickering light we are pulled to those that need us those that have shown bravery and stood up. We draw solace from the fact we are not alone. Strength from being a crook for someone to lean on. Understanding from being someone else's shoulder to cry on, their ear to speak to. Sometimes we say nothing and other times we are the voice of reason.  We may not be able to fix ourselves but strive to fix those that bleed, like us, whenever we can.  T...
Post a Comment
Read more