Garb provokes laughter with dark humor in her stand-up comedy: "I'm Going Mental: mental illness with a does of humor" |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Mar 04 2009 at 3:03 PM |
Photo by Josh Moody
New York comedian Michelle Garb dubbed her presentation as "Mental Illness with a dose of humor." Garb spoke to students about the various types of illnesses in the mental health community and emphasized the importance of understanding these illnesses and taking proper action for oneself.
By Kevin Whetstone
Antelope Staff
The seats of Copeland Hall Room 142 slowly filled as students sauntered in to catch the Feb. 24 performance by comedian Michelle Garb.
"I'm Going Mental: mental illness with a dose of humor" is a presentation Garb has been performing on the college circuit for nearly 13 years. In her performance, Garb combines humor and her experiences with mental illness to give the audience an opportunity to laugh and learn.
"'I'm Going Mental' takes the fear and shame out of having a mental disorder. If left untreated, mental instability can create problems with your day-to-day and personal life. Garb speaks from personal experience noting, "Can you say 'two ex-husbands'?" This kind of deadpan humor set the tone for Garb's discussion about mental illness last Tuesday.
The jokes came swiftly as Garb, a recovered anorexic with a history of bipolar disorder and manic depression, openly addressed her own experiences with mental illness and how the struggles have affected her professional and personal life.
"I see myself as two people rolled into one," Garb said. "On one side you have the morose me who sulks in the corner, but on the other side I am just happy, happy, happy."
Garb grew up in Los Angeles and was diagnosed with anorexia at the age of 15. After frequent moves, going from L.A. to France and back to L.A. again, Garb began to feel like she didn't fit in anywhere.
Adding to the problem, according to Garb, was the constant pressure from her family to stay skinny. Garb emphasized her point as she projected her family's "crest" on the screen, which was a red circle with a line through the words "No Fat Chicks."
In order to combat the feelings of isolation and the pressures of her family, Garb began to run on a daily basis until she became obsessed with running and ate nothing but candy.
"It was when I moved back to L.A. the second time that I realized I needed help," Garb said. "I started running one day, but the anorexia had made my bones weak, and while I was running, my leg snapped and ended my running career."
After she realized that she could no longer run, Garb decided she needed another outlet for dealing with the pressures and stresses of everyday life. She then decided to turn to stand-up comedy.
Garb moved to New York City and began doing her routine at various bars and clubs around the city. In New York, she said, despite showing promise in the comedy subculture, depression began to get the better of Garb, and she turned to alcohol as a means of dealing with stress, which quickly triggered mood-swings associated with bipolar disorder and led to her divorce from her first of two husbands.
"If you don't get the better of your illnesses, they will always get the best of you," Garb said.
Through her humor, Garb drew the audience into a discussion on the causes, symptoms and statistics of mental illnesses, emphasizing what a person can do to prevent or rid themselves of the troubles illnesses can bring.
"Did you know that 26 percent of Americans suffer from a mental disorder? That means that one in every four people here has some sort of illness and may not even know it," Garb said.
Chris Burda, a senior psychology major from Grand Island, said that he was surprised by the information Garb presented.
"I was a little shocked at just how common most of those things (illnesses) are. I think that her use of comedy really made it easy to pay attention to, which made the facts seem easier to comprehend," Burda said.
Garb shared some compelling information about all the different types of mental illnesses with the help of a Powerpoint presentation and encouraged students to seek help if they notice anything that may link them to one of the known disorders, or if a friend or a family member addresses changes in their behavior.
Garb finished her presentation by touching on the importance of medication, as most people self-medicate for their disorders, and then stop taking the medication once the symptoms subside.
"There is this stigma attached to taking meds. People think 'Oh wow, I feel great' and stop taking the medication, but fail to realize they feel good because the meds are working. In order to beat your illness, you have to take your meds," Garb said.
Garb said that the best way to get a handle on your problems is to seek help. She emphasized that it is important to do some self-analysis, talk to your doctors regularly and if you are prescribed medication, to take the medication on a regular schedule.
