Even the most successful people get depressed, and saying so helps everyone else

Gary Gulman, the stand-up comedian who turned his depression into material for a special, was asked whether it is strange to turn personal pain into something that helps others. He answered by pointing to football quarterback Terry Bradshaw and rock star Bruce Springsteen, who he said spoke openly about suffering and being depressed.

His conclusion, in his words: “It has nothing to do with achievement. This is chemical and it lets you off the hook.”

By that, Gulman meant that depression does not depend on achievement. He said hearing famous people admit they were depressed changed his own view of his condition.

Gulman repeated a response he said an unnamed person gave to Bradshaw: “But you’re Terry Bradshaw.” Gulman said he would have had the same reaction to Springsteen: “But wait, you’re Bruce Springsteen.” Gulman said he had thought he would be happy because he was a comedian and he was successful, and when that did not happen, he told himself he just had not gotten successful enough. Hearing Springsteen and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps talk about the same struggles led him to describe depression, in his phrase, as chemical.

Gulman called that idea of being let off the hook a service comedians can provide. He also cautioned that the same phrase cuts the other way, because he said it can be used to excuse being racist and sexist and homophobic, so comedians have to be careful.

Gulman tied that simpler explanation to what fans tell him. He said one of the best things he hears is that people watched his special alongside relatives, who then grasped better what it is like to live with depression.