At Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles, Gary Gulman joined Executive Producer Judd Apatow and comedians Maria Bamford and Patton Oswalt for a show and Q&A benefiting Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services.Gary Gulman and longtime friend comedian Robert Kelly discuss their early days in comedy and the relationship between stand-up and happiness. “Laughing Matters” offers unique insight from stars like Silverman, Neal Brennan, Wayne Brady, Chris Gethard and others about their issues with fame and mental illness.Released on Mental Health Awareness Day, the documentary presented by Funny or Die is the brainchild of digital media company SoulPancake, which was founded by “The Office” star Rainn Wilson.“It’s hard to find a comedian or comic actor or improv actor that hasn’t struggled with these issues at some point in time,” Wilson tells The Post. The National Alliance On Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization providing advocacy, education, support and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental health conditions can build better lives.The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. Here's what science says about it. Don’t die!’” Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. “There’s nothing more important to me than being funny — except being well.”Wilson acknowledges that therapy and medication are the best routes to treat issues, but he hopes opening discussion about struggles with mental health will connect people with similar feelings to their “heroes who are really funny.”“When you’re suffering from this kind of mental illness, it almost tricks you into thinking that you’re by yourself on a desert island,” he says. It’s happening under our noses.”The country’s suicide rate has also increased by 31 percent since 2001, NAMI reports, and it’s now the second-leading cause of death among people ages 10 to 34.“I had a lot of suicidal thoughts,” reveals Chris Gethard, who says in the documentary he spent two years “physicalizing” anxiety dreams in his sleep by clenching muscles or punching.“I would start my days waking up in physical pain because of the level of anxiety I was feeling,” he adds.While some might think laughter is the best medicine, Gethard doesn’t believe being a comedian can be a substitute for therapy because it’s “not a safe space to go heal.”“Comedy is not going to save you,” he says. In his first HBO comedy special, Gary Gulman offers candid reflections on his struggles with depression through stand-up and short documentary interludes that provide insight into his mental health journey. Robin Williams, as we all know, took his own life only a few months ago. Thanks for contacting us. You create a false front and a mask and you are almost like a performing monkey and you’re expected to be funny.

The documentary – which premiered at Sundance last week – started as a project purely about comedians with clinical depression. We've received your submission.When Sarah Silverman was in her teens, she was taking over a dozen Xanax tablets a day.“They just upped the dose … until I was taking four Xanax four times a day.”“The psychiatrist who originally put me on it hung himself,” she says. “I mean, I can’t just skate by that — it’s crazy.”Behind the scenes, it isn’t always butterflies and rainbows for the funniest among us. Would you like to receive desktop browser notifications about breaking news and other major stories? Stars: Theo Von, Bert Kreischer, Jay Mohr Looking at these faces, one can’t help but wonder if there is any connection between comedy and depression. Stream all of HBO together with even more of your favorite blockbusters, addictive series, and new Max Originals.© 2020 Home Box Office, Inc. All Rights Reserved. “And if you are thinking about doing comedy as a substitute for therapy, it doesn’t work. Hollywood stylist dishes on the worst stars to work withScientists tested 14 types of masks — here are the ones that worked and...Fire rips through Rachael Ray's home in upstate New YorkNASA to remove offensive names from planets and other heavenly bodiesLooters, vandals sweep through Chicago following police shootingHollywood stylist dishes on the worst stars to work withKelly Osbourne ‘bragging’ about 85-pound weight loss because ‘it feels good’Kelly Osbourne ‘bragging’ about 85-pound weight loss because ‘it feels good’Heather Morris posts tearful video about grieving late ‘Glee’ co-star Naya RiveraHeather Morris posts tearful video about grieving late ‘Glee’ co-star Naya RiveraCountry singer Kane Brown got lost on his own propertyCountry singer Kane Brown got lost on his own property Some of the biggest names in the game reveal what it's like to pursue this most challenging, yet important art-form. When prescribing new medication, sometimes Gary's doctor sounds like Dr. Seuss.It’s not always easy to tell when a person who makes jokes for a living is clinically depressed. “I became a comedian because I needed to be funny to be liked.”Comedians have long struggled with mental illness, the documentary points out, from ‘This is an epidemic.

“I felt incredibly isolated, alienated like I would never fit in.”When he learned he was able to make people laugh, he says it became the “catalyst” to seek a career in comedy, something he believes other entertainers relate to.“Oftentimes, people that are funny experience some great trauma as a child or feel tremendously alienated or suffer some kind of depression,” he says, “and this kind of like almost forces them to find comfort in humor.”“One hundred percent of comedians become comedians because somewhere in their childhood, they needed to be funny in order to survive,” Silverman says in the documentary. For information and support regarding mental health and suicide prevention, visit our partners.

“I think a lot of people find humor in the darkest places,” she says.

I tried.”Silverman credits success in her struggles to Klonopin — a drug often used to treat seizures and anxiety — and fellow comedian friend Mark Cohen. In his first HBO comedy special, Gary Gulman offers candid reflections on his struggles with depression through stand-up and short documentary interludes that provide insight into his mental health journey. An intimate and revealing insight into the work and lives of Stand-Up Comedians.