Bipolar Disorder: It’s OK to Laugh!

Chato Stewart likes to turn cartwheels. For someone who weighs 350-plus pounds, that’s quite a feat. But for Stewart, kicking up his heels means something more – it’s a reminder of how he’s learned to cope with the highs and lows of bipolar disorder. He explains on his blog, “Mental Health Humor”: “Hey, if I can at [the] age of 41 and weighing in at 353 pounds still do a cartwheel, then there is no reason for me not to be able to balance my negative emotions, too.”

That’s not the only way Stewart copes with his illness – he draws about it, too. With characters like bi-polar bears (think icebergs and igloos), OCD dogs and M&Ms with dyslexia, his cartoons – which he features on his blog — poke fun at everything from agoraphobia to Zoloft. “I always found some safety in humor,” Stewart says. “Growing up I learned it could be a real nice way to defend and to bounce off some of the negativity I was always receiving from being the oddball-type child.”

Now, he uses that humor as a tool to help others. “We’re told this is a serious illness and we shouldn’t be looking for humor,” he says. “We’re drained of any kind of humor. We can’t laugh at it – it balks the system. What I’m trying to do … is just making it OK to laugh.”

That’s why Sharecare recently named Stewart one of its Top 10 Influencers for Depression. Check out our infographic to learn more about him and the other influencers. For a video of Chato doing his famous cartwheel, visit his blog at PsychCentral.com.

What do you think? Is it OK to joke about mental illness, or should some subjects be off limits? Share your thoughts here.

Join the largest health conversation in 140 characters or less! Tweet what you want to talk about to @SharecareNow and let’s start chatting!

File under: In the News

Contributor

Laurie Herr

Laurie Herr is Managing Editor at Sharecare. She has worked on health content for a number of digital and print publications, including Health and Health.com, and has written hundreds of health-related articles for children and adults. Favorite exercise: Yoga. Health vice: Chai tea lattes (skim milk, lots of ice).

View my Sharecare profile

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Comments

  1. Jude Skocki Kelly

    I do have mental disorders, OCD, PSTD, Major Depression, Dependant Personality Disorder. So speaking from someone who really knows, I think it is fine to joke about it. As long as the joke is just that, a joke. Often times people say very hurtful, degrading things and hide the meanness by claiming it is a joke. That is NOT ok. So as long it is not derogatory in any fashion, please joke away !

    April 3rd, 2012, 5:06 pm
  2. Chato Stewart

    “Is it OK to joke about mental illness?” NO mental illness is NO JOKE!!! Finding humor and using it to cope with living with a mental illnesses like bipolar disorder, Depression, ODC, schizophrenia, BPD and other mood disorders is very powerful and priceless!.

    April 3rd, 2012, 5:28 pm
  3. Aimee

    Laugh at yourself! It’s therapy! Hehe Including myself, my family has quite a history with depression & bipolar disorder. I always say we (all people) are all a different version of crazy! Be kind to all but learn to laugh at life.

    April 3rd, 2012, 5:46 pm
  4. Joas

    I completely retale to this post. Every saturday I pull out all my bottles and sort them into my pill organizer for the next week. Do I hate being on so much medication? Yep. Do I wonder about the long term effects? Sure do. Do I think they have saved my life? Without a doubt. The treatment that is best is different for everyone of course, but for me working with my dr to find the best combo of meds has allowed me to live a much more functional and fulfilling life and that keeps me filling up those little slots every week.

    June 28th, 2012, 12:34 am

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