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. 




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

London Calling

I am no longer based "in town" and I never thought I'd miss it. Yet every Wednesday when I am London bound I find myself looking forward to what I will be greeted by. It's not the hustle and bustle - the fast moving commuters and slow shuffling tourists. It's not the shops and bargains abound. It's the buildings, the Underground, the knowing smile you may get from a fellow passenger, or the sarcastic comment of a Tube driver. I love London and its diversity. I love that you can walk just a short distance and be greeted by a whole new world. I love that you can randomly bump into an old friend you haven't seen for years. Making our big world smaller every day. I love St Paul's how proud it stands in the heart of the City. The fact it has survived wars and still attracts throngs of people to it everyday. I love the pomp and circumstance of the City and its Idiosyncrasies. I love that the museums are free and that you can meander around beautifu...

Kicking and Screaming

There isn't much to indicate that I am approaching my late thirties at an alarming rate: well apart from my date of birth; constant tiredness and the fact that a 25 year reunion of leaving Baring Primary School looms large.  In general people have the decency to act surprised when I tell them I am soon to be 37. Most people I say, apart from my boss, who recently asked when I had turned forty and when I said I was only 36 retorted that I looked much older. Nice! Anyhow age ain't nuthin' but a number and all that. And I wouldn't say that I am yet middle aged (unless I am planning on dying before the age of 75: I know the Government would like me to and will probably have me working until then but that is by the by).... Today I did a headstand and controlled dismount; I did a handstand; and stated a could do a cartwheel (which for the record I can but didn't fancy my chances of not knocking someone over).  I didn't quite manage a shoulder mount but I did do well (...

100 Sad Days; Day 41: when is a bully not a bully?

I wrote this two years ago and never published it as I didn't feel I should: Is a bully that leaves a mark on someone's body worse than a bully that leaves a mark on someone's conscious - on their soul? I am inclined to think yes - maybe that is why I allow myself to stay in relationships with a bully.  Whereas I know the world wouldn't agree. A bully is a bully: be it mental or physical.  You can make excuses for their behaviour - something at which I am most practiced - but it doesn't make it right.  So why can I not admit that I am being bullied? I think everyone was bullied as a kid - I just chose to befriend the bully and "get him on side" and I think I have been doing the same ever since if I am honest.  What makes someone think they are allowed to pick fault with another person? We are all allowed opinions but you are not meant to enforce them on another. You may have insecurities but the way to beat them is not to put ano...