“Here’s proof that you have a mental illness: Have you ever been in love? And then realized at a later point in time that your beliefs and feelings about that other person had no basis in reality?” so said David Granirer at a recent mental health conference where he spoke about using comedy to confront mental illness and its public stigma.
David spoke openly about his own struggle with depression in his early adulthood until he began treatment with an antidepressant: “This was a huge revelation. Obviously, I’m not saying that medication is alright for everyone, but it’s certainly alright for me.” For the past 20 years, David has been teaching a stand-up comedy course at a Canadian college. He then started Stand Up for Mental Health program in 2004 and has run this class in over 50 cities in Canada, the US, and Australia with the goal to help people do stand up comedy in order to build their confidence and also reduce public stigma around mental health.
Almost none of the participants go on to do professional stand up comedy but they are motivated to challenge themselves and do something different. Beyond that, “they want to see the humor in their lives. Because let’s face it: when you’re dealing with a mental health condition there’s also not a lot of humor in that.” He showed us videos of how patients became comics in the course by using something from their own life experience that was painful and address the question: what do you wish you had done back then? He then allows them through comedy to take control, give their own ending, and have the last laugh where they are no longer a victim, but a victor.
The message David had for clinicians is that “folks have way more resources than we give them credit for. And I think it helps the clinicians to be able to spot that in people and encourage them and help them to build their strengths, and I think humor is a strength.” I concur with his message that humor and laughing is on par with other lifestyle interventions including exercise, stress reduction, and dietary changes. Check out standupformentalhealth.com for more inspiration and humor.