This Talk About Depression is as Real as it Gets

From the outside, Kevin Breel looks like he has it all. He is a successful comedian, team captain, and gets invited to parties. No one would think that he is depressed. Yet, he is. In this tedtalk, Kevin tells a very real story about depression. “Real depression isn’t being sad when everything in your life is going wrong, real depression is being sad when everything in your life is going right.”

There is currently a negative stigma about depression that needs to be changed. The talk powerfully iterates this with the example: “Would you rather have your fb status be, you’re having a tough time getting out of bed because you hurt your back. Or, would you rather say you’re having a tough time getting out of bed because you’re depressed.”

The stigma around depression and the way people avoid talking about depression can also be put more clearly when Kevin explains, “if you break your arm, everyone signs your cast. But if you tell people you’re depressed, everyone runs the other way”.

It’s interesting that “we are so understanding of every part of our body breaking down, except for our brain. And that’s ignorance”.

Finally, the most important take away message from the talk is what Kevin describes as the best way to beat depression. That is, “ the only way to beat a problem that people are battling alone is by standing strong together”.