Ruby Wax admits it’s been easier for her to speak out about her depression than most.
The performer and in recent years mental health campaigner has become a public face of the illness and her admission has apparently done her career little harm.
Wax who stepped away from television a few years ago has since toured her show Out of her Mind in London and beyond and has written a book Sane New World about the stress of modern living.
I kept it quiet for so long
Speaking to The Green Room, Wax said she recognises that if she was in another profession she may well have been fired.
“That’s why I kept it quiet for so long. There’s nothing to protect people with mental illness.
I never told anybody for years I had it either. Show business isn’t exempt, you know. Luckily I was going in another direction anyway. But if I had stayed in TV, people would have been nervous.”
Mindfulness
The comedian attributes much of her recovery to mindfulness therapy which she practises daily.
“I have to practise it every day. It’s like someone with a bad back. I can tell when I’m heading towards burn out.”
Strange Comments
During the Out Of Her Mind tour, Ruby Wax invited questions and comments from members of the audience.
One of the strangest comments came from a man from Norway.
“He said 'what it is with you Americans you always want to go on and on about depression. In Norway we just kill ourselves'.”
Ruby Wax is a guest of the Rolling Sun Book Festival in Westport Co. Mayo which runs from November 15th-17th 2013.
Listen here to the full interview with Ruby Wax on The Green Room with Orla Barry:
The Green Room airs at the brand new time of Saturday evenings 9pm-11pm
http://www.newstalk.ie/greenroom
