Jim Carrey is known for the comedy he produces in his big box office films, but many don’t know that behind this comedy mixed with his funny personality is a man struggling with his mental health. Depression is a mental health disorder that affects around 280 million people worldwide. It is a feeling of extreme sadness and emptiness that affects a person’s daily life. Depression can be a year round condition for most, but some experience it in waves. In this article I will be going into the depth of depression and even sharing the experience of the famous actor Jim Carrey and his struggle with this common mental health disorder.

Depression can be triggered by certain life events whether you know it or not. The life events don’t always have to be completely life changing or drastic to cause depression, and can just be as simple as a person getting a new job, losing a friend or family member, or moving houses. With this, some people who get depressed can also experience another mental health process that can correspond with depression. In what I’ll be covering it will be about dissociation specifically. Dissociation isn’t always caused by depression, but it is very common for a person to experience dissociation and depression at the same time. About 80% of people with depression experience both.

Dissociation is a disconnected feeling of a person’s thoughts, or emotions, from the world around them. It almost feels as if they are watching the world go on around them while they just sit and watch from a third person perspective. This can also be a cause of life events or changes, as it can leave many people wondering if their life is even real. The reason why dissociation is correlated with depression is because when a person is depressed they may lose a sense of themselves and become wrapped up in their depressive condition, so dissociation is just another progressive state into their depression.

Someone who has experienced depression in their lifetime has been the famous actor, Jim Carrey. He just recently in the past few years opened up about the struggles he has faced with his mental health. In an interview he mentioned that depression felt like a ‘low level of despair’ and saying “Where you’re not getting any answers, but you’re living okay”. Jim said that he was on Prozac which is a medication pill that releases serotonin to the brain, which can affect your mood. This medication is commonly used in cases for people with depression that needs to be treated. Jim was finally able to weave off the medication and look at life from a new perspective. He saw depression as a mindset and he worked to get himself out of it and he continues too, as he mentioned in the interview that he doesn’t do drugs or drink alcohol, and very rarely even drinks coffee. He said, “Life is just too beautiful.” This is referring to his mindset of using drugs and alcohol to enhance life when you are high or drunk.

Overall, depression is a serious mental condition that affects millions of people around the world everyday. It is important to never be ashamed of your mental health journey and to always speak out to a medical professional about your struggles.

sources-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfWN5EW5eo4

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4449495/#:~:text=Serotonin%20is%20a%20neurotransmitter%20that,serotonin%20available%20to%20brain%20cells.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/jim-carrey-depression-battle-a8072396.html

https://psychcentral.com/lib/depersonalization-a-strange-mental-illness-captured-in-films-music-celebrity-confessions#1