Struggling with Depression: An Insightful TED Talk

If you, or someone you know, feels that they might be depressed/ down/ low or have depression this TED Talk is for you. Kevin Breel is a comedian and activist who shares his struggle with depression and his further struggle with society’s stigma around this. Kevin shares the side of him that is seen: the popular sports captain winning academic awards…and the side that gets hidden away: the teenager who almost took his own life.

Kevin’s view that “we all struggle and we all suffer” is one that I agree with. I recall reflecting on the idea that “we all struggle and we all suffer” – at the time it felt like everyone around me had ‘something going on’ that was getting in the way of life feeling as full or as straightforward as it might be. Was I managing to only see the issues and difficulties? Was I somehow tuning in too strongly to the dark and ignoring the light? I realised I was just becoming more aware of how things were for most people in general i.e. I was becoming more aware that, as Kevin says, “we all struggle and we all suffer” at times. Life can be amazing and wonderful and it can also be a struggle. And struggling with depression or anxiety or whatever else that life throws at us does not make us weak - it simply makes us human.

The world that Kevin wants for us all is one that I want for us all too: one where it feels okay for us to celebrate the great parts of life alongside it feeling okay to say “I’m going through hell”.

Kevin’s talk is open, honest, powerful and full of hope.