“Side by Side: A Journey With Depression” visited the Bakersfield College campus Monday and Tuesday.
Brian Wetzel, a comedian, performed the one-man monologue that reconstructed his battle with depression.
“If I had a gun that night, I might not be here tonight,” said Wetzel talking about a night that should have been great.
Wetzel’s show contained reenactments of his obstacles he had gone through, analogies to help the audience understand depression, and humor.
Dramatic lights and sounds added to the stage’s backdrop, which pictured a translucent man climbing a spider web with a set of scales and a question mark hanging above his head.
“Depression is like a spider web,” said Wetzel. According to Wetzel, depression is a very difficult ailment to live with, and the only way to deal with it is to face it head on.
Wetzel not only told his audience how he came to face his depression, he showed them through his humor.
“Press 6 if you’re getting annoyed,” mocked Wetzel about his phone conversation with the operator of a 24-hour emergency psychiatric hotline.
According to Wetzel, there are five phrases that friends and family should never say to a person battling depression such as “I know just how you feel” and “just shake it off,” which he claims is impossible to shake off.
“There is no we in depression,” said Wetzel, “there is only you.”
Even though Sammy, Frankie, and Dean (voices in his head) deterred him from being happy, Wetzel said that he hid behind a smile.
Although Wetzel did not care anymore, he tried to deal with the depression by trying out jobs that fit his mood.
“Camp Low Seratonin,” according to Wetzel, would have fit this description.
Wetzel also explained how he tried to self-medicate himself through PCP (Prozac, coffee, and pot).
“I can make a bong [smoking device] out of anything.” According to Wetzel, he can make one out of an apple. “That is how I got fruit in my diet.”
After Wetzel had battled depression for 20 years, he finally came to the conclusion that one must not fight depression but live alongside it.
He claimed that he came to this conclusion after his encounter with a psychiatrist who had a very thick French accent.
He saw humor in it.
Wetzel then concluded the show not only with a question and answer session, but with some advice to those who are suffering with depression.
“Turn around, make eye contact,” said Wetzel, “and begin the journey.”