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{Guest post} Finding the humorous side of mental health: And how did that make you feel? by Kit Johnson

Humour can be a great way to get out of the darkness; sometimes seeing the humorous side of mental illness can prove as beneficial to those who are suffering as medication and therapy. Isn't laughter meant to be the best medicine?

This Friday, with the help of Kit Johnson – who himself has lived with bipolar disorder for 45 years – we hope to bring a bit laughter to your day. 

And how did that make you feel?

If you are expecting what I might call the usual article about mental health and ‘how I discovered this or that’ and changed my life – forget it. But that’s not say my story should not lift you – quite the contrary!

A few years ago I went to see a Psychiatrist and said ‘could you me help me out’ and he said ‘sure which way did you come in’. So that’s that profession dealt with!

What about meds? I once presented my wife with some Olympic condoms, gold, silver, and bronze, and asked her to choose. She said lets go for silver and see if you can come second for a change! But help is always at hand, for as male readers may concur; SSRI’s have the exact opposite effect! A silver lining if ever there was one. Now I can make love for hours and hours, but never detonate on impact – I mean never! And your lover’s skills are also tempered by the likelihood that during these marathon love making sessions, you will be auditioning to belch for England at the Olympics. So that’s meds dealt with!

I went to my GP and asked him what he thought about Cyclothymics and he said ‘well I couldn’t eat a whole one.’ So that’s the Doctor dealt with!

Ok, ok, ok – time to inject some sanity – sorry no pun intended – the above advice might be just be a bit extreme. I am not against any of the above, but after 45 years with Bipolar, I worked out nothing was working for me. The rule has to be ‘whatever does it for you’ then go with it.

But I do think we, as a society, look for silver bullet solutions too readily; and frankly they don’t exist. I do not believe I can be cured, but I can manage it. The very action of seeking help made me feel a failure. Taking the pills to control my brain made me feel a freak. And you know what – I AM NOT! After all unless you have had a humour by-pass, I’ve already made you laugh – Yes?

My epiphany came the day I realised mocking my condition using the gifts of humour I’d be given, suddenly made me feel good – proud even. And I’ve practiced it ever since. And when my self-deprecation fails me, I hit YouTube and watch some of my favourite comedians. And I do feel better. Of course it won’t do it for everyone, not even me on occasion, but I commend it as something else to consider as you seek that Holy Grail.

I discovered I was Bipolar in my teens. If you liken life to a Rodeo, it felt like someone had seen fit to knobble me with haemorrhoids! I spent a good deal of my life feeling angry. So you are vulnerable to trying anything, and in my experience, it can lead to a succession of disappointments, when you realise you are still the same. But at the time if someone had told me probing sheep’s entrails whilst playing ‘will ye no come back again’ on Bagpipes sitting on a camel would do it – I’d have tried it!

A friend of mine went to his doctor and said ‘I wake up every morning and start singing Delilah’.  The doctor says he had Tom Jones’ disease. ‘Is it common?’ asked my friend. ‘Well it’s not unusual’

Bipolar is unusual. But it need not cripple you. Like its close stable-mate, depression, it is debilitating, but that’s no reason to feel shame or pretend you don’t have it and suffer in silence. I now count my blessings. After all, if I did not have the condition I wouldn’t be here writing this, and hopefully bringing a bit of joy to people.

So you’ve just had a measured dose of Kit Johnson, and in those immortal and largely useless words uttered by your counsellor, ‘And how did that make you feel’.  A little bit better I hope.

Learn more about Kit Johnson, author of Dodging Suicide – A Lifetime’s Preoccupation through Amazon.com, or www.dodgingsuicide.com , or Tweet to @dodgingsuicide

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Amanda Green Author wrote on 03 | 22 | 2012
This is a lovely article. Yes laughter is important - a funny film, programme, a laugh with friends or family really is medicine in itself. I am not bipolar but suffered with borderline personality disorder, OCD, anxiety and depression plus much more, but apart from those days when I just couldnt possibly or want to laugh, I have laughed loads - I like making jokes, banter, mucking about like a child at times and watching things like 'the inbetweeners' and 'Gavin and Stacey' and was bought some lovely funny dvd's for Christmas by my brother, so that was the best gift I could've been given - the gift of laughter. Laughing tells your body and mind that you are happy, so let's laugh more X
Tessa Tangent wrote on 03 | 12 | 2012
Great post. Sorry, every time I go to comment in any detail, the post is taken away and I am left with a blank box. Yes, it's important to laugh. What else can we do? Pointless moaning about things, just have to learn about our condition and get on with it. As one who once rode naked on a bike all over Blackheath Common in London (traffic all around it) because I thought I was invisible when in a high mood swing (which can last 3 weeks or more), the ability to laugh at this stuff is vital to me. Otherwise what is there? Shame? Guilt? Remorse? And the gradual sliding away into an insular life without connection or engagement with others? I don't want that, thank you very much. And those I engage with now, every single one of them, have problems of their own to deal with, whatever it may be. I only have to comply with and keep taking my medication. And what I find is that I can live a fairly normal life by doing so. No, there is not the excitement and overwhelming buzz when I am going high, no there's no low... but by complying, I am getting the nearest to a normal life that I can. Just so you know, I refused to take Lithium for many years because I thought it made people go "dull" and, as a writer, that was the last thing I wanted. However, Lithium has been the best thing in stabilising my mood swings. My shrink says there is now (3 yrs later) something beginning with Q but I am loathe to start the whole guinea-pig process all over again, now that I've experienced massive stability after cyclothymic episodes. The thing is to laugh. I find it easier to laugh about stuff I've done in mania than in depression but that is me. What's funny about not wanting to wake up ever again? Or wanting to end your life because it would be a blessed escape for you, and those around you, from having you actually LIVE it? That to me was sad. But yes, I can laugh about my manic episodes and it's important that I do. I know that then I wasn't "in my right mind". Mental hospital ditto... I have to laugh about my experience of that!!
harryf200 wrote on 03 | 13 | 2012
Is the “something beginning with a Q” Quetiapine? My pNurse suggested this one for me but when I researched the side effects I politely declined; seems it can trigger some of the conditions I already have… I’d not want to exacerbate them. I am also Bipolar. I’ve done a few crazy things – none of which landed me in hospital (although they probably should have done …) but nothing like riding a bike like Lady Gadiver, not that I could, I mean ‘not’ because I’m a bloke … But that show is a beauty! Next time you feel it coming on give me a shout – I wanna watch the crowds as you cycle by! :¬D
Tessa Tangent wrote on 03 | 31 | 2012
Sorry, Harry, I missed that reply (oh lolz). It is actually cringe-makingly embarrassing to me now but at the time and because NOThing happened, I truly thought it confirmed that I was, in fact, invisible. Luckily, I haven't had that particular delusion/illusion since!
Mummymeehan wrote on 03 | 09 | 2012
I have suffered from chronic bouts of depression since my early adolescence. My sense of humour has at times been my saviour!! I know some people would find it at best “inappropriate” or maybe even “offensive”. But to be able to laugh and joke at desperate situations or whilst one is in a very dark and gloomy place is not only my coping mechanism but also therapeutic. Without my sense of humour I really would not like to think where I would be now.