The Funny Side Of Depression

Tackling Mental Illness With Comedy

- Rhys Knight

Comedy and mental illness are an unusual combination but RHYS KNIGHT, the author of new fictional book titled Little White Helpers — which is attempting to show the humorous side of depression — says we need to move the discussion from being purely medical or pity based to something more useful...

“When I was diagnosed with depression, people either wanted to understand or support me,” says Knight. “This sounds great, except I didn’t want to be treated like a patient or a lost puppy. Honestly, I just wanted to do something that would help me feel anything.”

Knight wrote this book to show that depressed people are neither damaged nor dying; they’re just people. “Depression is an illness, but that shouldn’t be the only way we talk about it. Everyone experiences it differently and there’s no one solution for everyone. We all want a simple cure, but each person has their own, unique journey.

Knight’s own experience with mental illness involved being diagnosed with “severe depression” when he was working in a corporate role. “First, I wondered why the word ‘severe’ was necessary, then I thought how depressing the diagnosis was, then I burst out laughing — because depression was really depressing.”