Ruby Wax on how she learnt to use comedy as a way to bear the unbearable

As most of you will know Ruby Wax is a comedian, actor and author as well as a mental health campaigner. 

Our conversation was particularly powerful because we got under the hood of the performer Ruby, and gained insight into who she really is, and how she got to be who she is. In listening to her honesty you will connect with yourself and recognise some of the influences that led you, the listener, to be you. 

We discussed complex issues like:

• What led Ruby to be ‘not as well as [she] thought [she] was’ and her breakdown after 12 years of being stable.
• Why her experience of depression was like a ‘holocaust inside’. 
• How we navigate together the difficult line of describing her experience without triggering her to drop back into it.
• The power of comedy as a defence and as a way to bear the unbearable
• We discuss the roots of Ruby’s depression and how it stemmed from the abuse and terror of her childhood and how that terror lives on and plays out in our daily life, even if managed. 
• For Ruby being at home is a place of threat and how she feels ’trapped’ when locked inside her house for too long.

You need to listen to this episode if you want to understand depression, yourself and what can help you. 

Buy Ruby's new book: https://amzn.eu/d/aaTlK7b

Find support at the Frazzled Cafe: https://www.frazzledcafe.org/

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Please buy a ticket to my Masterclass, 'Change your family dynamics with Julia Samuel at The School of Life' on 16th and 22nd May: https://www.theschooloflife.com/amsterdam/julia-samuel-change-your-family-dynamics/?utm_source=colla&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=juliapodcast

• Discount code: TheSchool_Julia

Find Julia:

Julia’s Website: https://juliasamuel.co.uk/

Julia’s Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe

Grief Works app: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/grief-works-self-care-love/id1558867513

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Produced by Georgie Rutherford

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