Depression and mental health have catching the eye of many governments all over the world. It’s like we’re finally starting to realize that life is at its best when we consider it worth living. I know, wild stuff. Sadly, simply acknowledging the problem doesn’t fix it, and there’s still a lot of people out there that struggle with mental health issues on a daily basis.
One group of people where mental health issues seem especially prevalent is in comedians, for some reason. I guess having no reason to laugh makes you want to make other people laugh. Let’s take a look at some comedians with a history of depression.
Robin Williams
Sadly, Robin Williams’ struggle with depressive thoughts only became public knowledge when it was already too late to help him. The comedian was seen as one of the greatest of his generation and put smiles to billions of faces, despite not having the power to put a smile on his own.
Louis C.K.
While Louis does recognize that his depression has helped him with a lot of material for his stand up routines, he’s been struggling with it from back when he was only 6 years old. When his career was at a low point, Louis opened up about the mental health struggles he’d been having for the bigger part of his life.
Wayne Brady
Wayne Brady absolutely hit rock bottom on his 42nd birthday, when he had already been struggling with depression for nearly a decade. It cost him his marriage and at a certain point he decided he had to make a change and couldn’t keep having these negative thoughts about himself and life.
Larry David
Having had his first touch with depression half a century ago, it’s in fact the depression itself that made Larry David look to comedy as an outlet. It’s been a good career move for him as he’s one of the big names for the last few decades.
Sarah Silverman
Sarah has always been very open about her depression history. She’s had it for as long as she can remember and went through over a dozen Xanax tablets daily when she was just a teenager. Sadly, back then dealing with depression was basically “give her more pills”. She’s currently on Zoloft to deal with her depression, but she has beaten the Xanax addiction.
Jim Carrey
He admitted to dealing with depression back in the early 2000s, and Jim Carrey probably found the best way to deal with his depression symptoms. He claims no longer drinking alcohol or using drugs has helped him deal with it immensely, where he used Prozac before to cope with his dark thoughts.
Drew Carey
Drew is known as a jolly fellow who laughs all the time, but in his autobiography he mentions the abuse he suffered as a child and the death of his father. He’s attempted suicide on two occasions in his life because the depression got so bad.
