Depression is real and the attention people are giving it is not enough. We see plenty of suicides, thousands of recorded cases and what not, but still its not a big deal for majority of the population. Doctors prescribe a lot of drugs, meditation and psychosocial therapy but they often fail to mention an old yet effective treatment for depressed patients, dark humor.
Humour is the key to mental health and overall well being of an individual. It multiplies our strengths in a good surrounding and effectively makes us tolerable to bad environment. Joking on controversial or disturbing things like suicide, depression, mental illness etc are the best examples of dark humour. As Insensitive as this may sound, it actually has therapeutic value.
People who can tolerate dark humour are usually more intelligent, emotionally stable and less aggressive. However, people usually consider dark humour insensitive and extremely offensive. It is extremely important to know how and where to use it and how well to use it. The amazing truth about dark humour is how it fills the void of loss easily than other compensatory mechanisms.
A well renowned psychologist Bart Andrews who made a study over thousands of online dark comedy users, stated this
“When you read the threads on suicide memes, people find them helpful. They don’t feel alone. It’s a way for them to anonymously communicate their inner pain in a way that’s artistic, super clever, and that people who are struggling identify with.”
Its an outlet where we are allowed to be negative every now and then, and to channelise & embrace our inner dark side in a healthy way. There is no better way to accept and embrace our negatives than with a hint of a laughter.
Humour is a process of cognitive restructuring. It is analyzing a situation in a different perspective. A survey on dank meme creators show that they are doing comparatively well emotionally and they’re the same people who were diagnosed earlier with clinical depression.
However, the effectiveness of the humour is completely based on people you are with, context of the situation and you as an individual.
A useful tool to remove this filter is internet. Anonymity of the online world has its own benefits and it is useful in this case.
A study found that “self defeating humour” can increase psychological well being and it is a great to reframe your flaws and shortcomings. This allows people to shed their fake facade and tends to make them a more likeable individual.
However there is a balance in how we should use humour and it is important to be mindful how we are using it. Dark humour is incredibly powerful and therapeutic , but still it Should be used in right time and place.
Inspired from an article by Steven Handel in http://www.theemotionmachine.com
Thanking Trisika Krishnamoorthy for her guidance