While perusing the web, I stumbled across this amazing program in Canada that uses laughter to fight mental illness and stigma.  I just thought it was too ingenius not to investigate.  I contacted its founder, David Granirer, and asked him to send some more information:

When Mental Health Is A Laughing Matter: Stand Up For Mental Health Uses Comedy to Fight Mental Illness and Public Stigma

Eufemia Fantetti grew up surrounded by mental illness. Her mother had paranoid schizophrenia and her father had clinical depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

As a teenager she herself began to experience depression, an illness that’s had a huge effect on her life. She says, "I have spent most of my life feeling like there was a dark cloud of despair that permeated my presence. I felt like I would depress and discourage everyone."

But today Eufemia is discovering that she can also make people laugh thanks to Stand Up For Mental Health, a program that teaches stand-up comedy to people with mental illness as a way of building confidence and fighting public stigma.

Founded by counsellor and comic David Granirer, Stand Up For Mental Health has a class in Vancouver in partnership with the Burnaby mental Wealth Society, in Chilliwack through the Mood Disorders Association of B.C. Chilliwack branch, and is also offered through the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario in Toronto.

Granirer, who also suffers from depression, got the idea for Stand Up For Mental Health from watching students in his Langara College Stand-Up Comedy Clinic course in Vancouver. “Though Comedy Clinic isn’t intended as therapy, I’ve had students overcome depressions and phobias, not to mention increasing their self-esteem. There’s something incredibly healing about telling an audience exactly who you are and having them laugh and cheer. It knocks out your shame. You think ‘Hey, I’m not so bad after all.”

Research also reveals the psychological benefits of humor. A study by the U.S. Army found that cadets who used coping humor in basic training were less likely to quit than those who didn’t. Another study on Israeli children who’d spent time in bomb shelters found fewer lingering psychological effects among those who’d been billeted with peers who had a viable sense of humor. Granirer adds, “Using humor in the face of adversity that makes us stronger and more resilient.”

Stand Up For Mental Health graduate Norm Conrad bears this out. Upon graduating from high school in 1985, Norm was hospitalized with psychosis and told he’d probably never get out. Though eventually released, Norm was hospitalized several more times.

Today, thanks to Stand Up For Mental Health, Conrad is a changed man. His sense of humor is apparent. Referring to his hospital stays he says, “Dad always told me, ‘If you want to accomplish great things in your life, you have to be committed.’”

Stand Up For Mental Health has helped Conrad cope by finding humour in his struggles to regain mental health. “My Doctor told me I could never take Prozac as I might go off and kill someone. Is that really what I’d do if I cheered up?”

On a more serious note he says, “Succeeding at stand-up comedy has been great for my self-esteem and confidence. It’s been a life-saver.”

Another student, Jacquie Johnston states, “Doing this program has improved my self-esteem and confidence. Getting positive feedback from the instructor, the other comics, and the media really helped change the way I feel about myself.”

Jacquie continues, “Before the course I had stigma even about admitting I might have a mental illness, but now I’m honoured to belong to this amazing group of people. I am fully open to and pursuing a diagnosis and treatment. In fact I could see myself becoming an advocate. I’m no longer ashamed to talk about it and am actively promoting the course to my friends etc.”

And Stand Up For Mental Health continues to expand. Granirer now runs Stand Up For Mental Health trainings in cities across the country, partnering with various mental health organizations. “I take their clients, turn them into stand up comics and we perform at public events, conferences, and fundraisers. It’s incredibly empowering and a great way of fighting public stigma. Most so-called normal people would never want to do stand up. Seeing people with mental illness do it forces the audience to re-evaluate their biases against people who are mentally ill.”
 
Granirer continues, “The media often portrays them as down and out. We give them a chance to show their funny, courageous and engaging sides. Rather than have the public pity people with mental illness, we want people to admire them for their strength and resilience.”

For more information go to http://www.standupformentalhealth.com