Gallows Humor Swings! What's So Funny About Mental Illness?
Gallows Humor Swings! What's So Funny About Mental Illness?
If you’ve been blessed/cursed with Manic Depression you’ll be spending time off the beaten track, in some cases, far off – for example, you might find yourself lying face down in a drainage ditch paralleling the beaten track, being pecked on the head by an angry duck.
At moments like this you can weep and shake your fists at the sky, or you can scratch your head in wonder at the dizzying, diverse smorgasbord of experience life has set before you, and laugh with bemused disbelief. Both options have merit, but healthy bipolar bears benefit from developing a resilient sense of humor predicated on perspective.
Laughter sheds light on a dark situation, creates distance, and generates power. Indeed, seeing the absurdity and irony of threatening situations is a great way to make them less intimidating. Courtrooms, prison cells, mental hospitals, distraught loved ones, and the offices of therapists are not intrinsically funny – however – the most beautiful lotus emerges from the darkest mud. As Taz Mopula once observed, “When the going gets sick, the sick do shtick.”
Becoming better at doing this means developing an ability to find humor in the most unpleasant, disagreeable situations life has to offer, because these will be the moments when it is most desperately needed. This may serve to further estrange you from those who have never strayed onto the shoulder of the beaten track, much less off of it. At this point you can pretend that your view is not as wide as it is, or acknowledge the distinction and let them deal with it.
In a politically correct environment like ours, where the consensus holds that pretending a duck-billed platypus is a swan will make it so, there are those who believe Tourette’s Syndrome is comedy gold, ripe with satiric potential – and those that believe it is always wrong to make fun of the disabled.
The problem with this, dear reader, is that bipolar bears (me and my crew) are disabled, we have already learned that, when it comes to comedy, all of life is fair game, especially ourselves. Indeed, we know that being able to see the humor and absurdity in our own pain, our bizarre affliction; is a key ingredient of healing.
Those who enjoy the humorous, thought-provoking writing found here will love my books. All three are available from Amazon – paperback & digital – simply by clicking on the descriptions below.
INVISIBLE DRIVING – The original bipolar memoir. Unique in that it takes readers inside a manic episode – from liftoff through recovery. Incendiary.
MOONLIT TOURS – Dark comedy/social satire/crime drama. This gritty, urban novel is thick with quirky characters from all social strata. Acerbic.
WASHED UP – Wickedly funny novel delivering an irreverent, affectionate take on alcoholism and recovery in the genteel suburbs. Transformative.
Buy one today. If you’ve read them, please tell someone else about them. Thanks!
Posted by blog.alistairmcharg.com at 2/20/2012 10:56 AM 
Categories: Suicide, Mental Health, Invisible Driving, Humor, Spirituality
Tags: Black Comedy Dark Humor Gallows Humor Bipolar Disorder
Categories: Suicide, Mental Health, Invisible Driving, Humor, Spirituality
Tags: Black Comedy Dark Humor Gallows Humor Bipolar Disorder
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