The document discusses the correlation between comedians and mental health issues like depression, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide. It profiles several famous comedians like Robin Williams, Chris Farley, John Belushi, and Mitch Hedberg who struggled with these issues and died prematurely from drug overdoses or suicide. The author's research found that humor may be used as a coping mechanism for emotional difficulties from a young age. Studies also show comedians score higher than normal on psychotic trait scales and that creative genius has been linked to mental disorders. While the topic is complex, the author's work suggests comedians may be predisposed to mental illness and that the most brilliant minds can also suffer the most.

1. THE PAIN BEHIND THE LAUGHTER;
THE DEATH OF A COMEDIAN.
The correlation between comedians and depression,
drug use, and alcoholism.

2. OUTWARDLY HAPPY, BUT SUFFERING INSIDE
 The reason I chose this topic is because I am truly
intrigued by the irony of how addiction, alcoholism, and
even suicide has effected so many comedians.
Sometime the ones who seem the happiest and funniest
on the outside, are the ones suffering horribly on the
inside.
 Is there a possible correlation between all of these
comedians?
 What factors could possibly contribute to the ones
afflicted with these issues?
 Are there similar lifestyle factors that contribute to these
people?
 Is it just coincidence, or is it even possible to understand
why this happens?

3. ROBIN WILLIAMS
 Robin Williams, born July
1951 took his own life in,
August 2014. Williams, a
famous actor and
comedian. Well known
and loved by many. His
suicide rocked the
country. Who might have
guessed that someone
who seemed so happy go
lucky, feel so depressed
and alone on the inside?

4. CHRIS FARLEY
 Chris Farley born
February 1964 died
December 1997 at the
young age of only 33.
 Famous actor and
comedian.
 Well known for his roles
on SNL and feature films.
 Died of a cocaine and
morphine overdose that
was deemed accidental.

5. JOHN BELUSHI
 John Belushi, born
January 1949 died March
1982
 Famous actor, comedian,
musician. Disputably,
best known for his role on
SNL and the movie
Animal House.
 Died from a “speedball”
over dose, a combination
of cocaine and heroin.
Deemed accidental.

6. MITCH HEDBERG
 Mitch Hedberg, born
February 1968 died,
March 2005.
 Best known as a standup
comedian.
 Unconventional and what
some may consider, an
absurd comedy style.
 Died from “multiple drug
toxicity” from cocaine and
heroin and alcohol.

7. HOW I BEGAN MY RESEARCH
 I first began my research by picking just a few
comedians who have succumbed to drug and
alcohol abuse which ultimately led to their deaths.
 The comedians I chose are a few of my personal
favorites and are considered well known. I did that
because I thought It would be easier for the
audience to relate to these comedians and my
ideas about the subject.
 All though there are many more comedians who
have suffered from similar afflictions I hope to be
able to thoroughly present my ideas with only these
few.

8. HOW I BEGAN MY RESEARCH
 Secondly proceeded my research by finding articles that
might be able to explain why comedians are at higher
risk for drug addiction and alcoholism.
 Two quotes I found from Guff.com that resonated with
me are “It is a comedian's job to find humor in things
that are not funny, and the way a good comedian does
that is by being a naturally funny person who suffers
those terrible, unfunny things. ” and “Comedians also
know its their job to tell the truth and, aside from Cross,
every comedian mentioned who talks about heroin or
other drugs in their act makes sure to mention one very
important thing: It feels amazing. Your body lights up,
you feel no pain, all of the troubles of the world
disappear. There is no rush quite like it.”

9. CONT.
 According to Guff.com
“professional comedians
more than any profession
aside from,
again, musicians, are
naturally disposed towards
drug use as soon as they
start to consider the career.”
 And also that, “A final
reason comedians are more
likely to do strong drugs
than other performers is that
comedians are the loneliest
performers of all.”

10. WHAT CAME NEXT
 After the initial research I
found, I wondered if there
was a correlation
between “funny” people
and depression that
stems from as early as
adolescence.
 According to Journal of
Adolescent Research,
humor can be used as a
coping skill for dealing
with emotional difficulties
in young people.

11. CONT.
 “The relations between humor and symptoms of
depression in high school students and in depressed
adolescent psychiatric inpatients were examined in the
present study. Assessment of humor included measures
of humor appreciation, humor creativity, and humor
coping. Professional comedians rated humor creativity.
Depression was assessed with self-report measures of
depressed mood, self-esteem, and hopelessness.
Results indicated that humor can be measured reliably
and that humor and depression are related. Specifically,
using humor to cope with emotional difficulties was
related to depression more than was the ability to
appreciate or create humorous material.”
( Freiheit,Overholser,Lehnert).

12. CONT.
 After reading about how
humor is often used as a
coping mechanism in
adolescents and adults,
my thoughts expanded.
 After researching each of
the comedians I specified
in this presentation, I
noticed the connection
that each of these
comedians were
regarded as class
clowns, or the funny
guys.
 I found this interesting
because it made me
wonder, if each of these
people were predisposed
to depression and drug
use even before they
were comedians.
 Perhaps they had all
dealt with emotional
distress as children and
used their sense of
humor to cope. Even
though there is no way of
really knowing that for
sure.

13. FURTHERING MY RESEARCH
 As I continued
researching I found
myself having more
questions than
answers.
 I stumbled upon
another article which
discussed the pattern
betweens comedians
and mental illness.
 An experiment was
performed to test the
hypothesis that
comedians, like other
creative individuals
show This includes a
higher level of
psychotic traits
including,
schizophrenia, and
manic depression
(Ando,Claridge,Clark).

14. METHOD & RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENT
 A group of comedians and
actors completed an online
questionnaire containing the
short version of the Oxford-
Liverpool Inventory of
Feelings and Experiences
(O-LIFE), with scales
measuring four dimensions
of psychotic traits. Scores
were compared with general
population norms.
(Ando,Claridge,Clark).
 Comedians scored
significantly above O-
LIFE norms on all four
scales. Actors also
differed but only on 3
scales. Most striking was
the comedians’ high
score on both introverted
anhedonia and
extraverted
impulsiveness.
(Ando,Claridge,Clark).
Method Results

15. CONCLUSION
 What I concluded after
reading about the
controlled experiment, is
that for some reason,
comedians are more
susceptible to mental
illness.
 This led me to my next
question. Why? Why is it
that more creative and
“funnier” people are more
likely to suffer from
mental ailments?

16. WHAT CAME NEXT
 This led me to try and
find something on why
creative people are often
times mentally ill.
 The article I found next
was the most interesting
to me.
 According to the British
Medical Journal, there is
a definitive link between
creative genius and
mental disorders.
 This articles mentions,
Albert Einstein, Isaac
Newton, Virginia Wolf
and a few others. All of
these individuals were
regarded as “insane” or
even in a manic
depressive state.
 I found this very
interesting, and it led me
to my final conclusion
that perhaps the most
brilliant minds are the
ones who suffer the most.

17. WHAT I LEARNED
 Throughout this process, I learned more than I had
anticipated. Because the topic I chose was so broad, it
was hard to get a definitive answer. I was able to
understand more in depth information about why drug
addiction, depression and even suicide have effected so
many people who live in the lime light. But I honestly
have more questions now, than when I started. I think
this is because there are so many factors that come in
to play concerning the psychological side of a person.
 This subject truly intrigues me especially the
psychosomatic side of things and how there are proven
links between genius and mental setbacks.

18. ATRIBUTE
Here is a short
tribute video to
recognize 10
comedians
who died too
soon. A few of
the comedians
I represented
in this
presentation
are also
featured in this
video. I hope
this will give
some insight
on who they
were and their
comedic style.

19. WORK CITED
 Ackerman, McCarton. "Alcoholism, Celebrities, Drug Abuse, Mental Health." 7 Comedians Who
Have Battled Addiction, Depression. N.p., 15 Aug. 2014. Web. 02 May 2017.
 "Alcohol and Drugs: Untimely Celebrity Deaths." Drugs.com. Drugs.com, n.d. Web. 02 May
2017.
 Freiheit, S. R., J. C. Overholser, and K. L. Lehnert. "The Association Between Humor and
Depression in Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients and High School Students." Journal of
Adolescent Research 13.1 (1998): 32-48. Web. April & may 2017.
 Hare, E. “Creativity and Mental Illness.” British Medical Journal (Clinical research
ed.) 295.6613 (1987): 1587–1589. Print.
 Giunti, Carlo, and Marco Laveder. "Implications of 3 1 short-baseline neutrino
oscillations." Physics Letters B 706.2-3 (2011): 200-07. Web.
 Snipes, Lucas. "Why Comedians Are Prone to Drug Addiction (and Why Comedy Is the Best
Medicine)." Guff. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2017.
 YouTube. N.p., 02 Dec. 2015. Web. 02 May 2017.