 Today we're going to be talking about the Netflix comedy special by Neil Brennan called Three Mikes, but we're going to be talking about one of the points he touched on which is the stigma about how people with depression are lazy, but he makes some really, really good points. So stay tuned as we discuss this. What's up everybody? This is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem, but focus on the solution. And yes, so Neil Brennan is a comic. He's also a writer and he has a comedy special on Netflix called Three Mikes. Neil Brennan has kind of been in the background. He was a writer for the Dave Chappelle show. So if you ever watch the Dave Chappelle show, pretty funny stuff. A lot of the classic sketches on there actually came from Neil Brennan. So now he's more in the forefront. He's doing comedy. And I highly, highly, highly recommend you check out this Netflix special because Neil Brennan is somebody who struggles with like severe clinical depression. Not moderate, not minor, but severe depression. And first off, I want to say I really love the format of this. Like it's really interesting. I've never seen a comic do this. I love comedy. Maybe that's to counterbalance my own depression. But Three Mikes, it's very literal. He has three different mikes and he, it's almost like three acts into one. So he does regular comedy and then he does kind of like a regular, just kind of life story, but he talks about depression as well as the relationship with him and his father. He's a little more serious with a little bit of comedy mixed in. And then on the third mic, he basically has flashcards and he reads like very corny, silly jokes. But anyways, go check it out. It's a great, great comedy special on Netflix. But anyways, I wanted to focus on one part of the Neil Brennan comedy special. And basically he gets to a point where he talks about this stigma about depression, where he says there's this stigma where people with depression, they're just lazy. Just like they got into a bad mood at some point in their life and they were just too lazy to get out of it. And those of you who struggle with depression know that that's not the case. But then he talks about all the things that he has tried for his depression. He has put in a lot of work, a lot of quantifiable work for his depression. Here goes the list of what he has done to try to counteract and overcome his depression. He has seen a psychiatrist. He has also seen a psychologist. He even went vegan. He tried quitting smoking. He's tried a slew of different exercise routines to try to get those endorphins and stuff going. He tried meditation, which also include doing a seven day silent meditation retreat. He's also tried just about every single antidepressant medication that they have. He also went on a low dose ketamine treatment. I don't know if you guys have heard of that, but some people are using ketamine to treat depression. I will do another video on that at a later date because I have my own opinions on it. But he kind of covers some of my opinions on ketamine. There is withdrawal. It has the chance of becoming addictive and all that stuff. But anyways, the most recent treatment that he has done is called TMS. And that stands for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. Basically, this is a new type of treatment where they put this halo thing on your head and it shoots a magnetic pulse into your brain. The parts of the brain responsible for serotonin, dopamine, endorphins, nurpinephrine and all those different chemicals. And it tries to stimulate those parts of the brain to jumpstart the neurotransmitters and get them going. And he talks about how he has done 45 half hour sessions of this. And he ends by saying this, so listen to this clip. I ended up doing a total of 45 half hour sessions of TMS, which is a lot. And the reason I itemize it is because when you have any kind of mood disorder, it's not provable to people. All I have to show you is my work. I had 45 half hour sessions. It's really aggravating when you have a mood thing because you can feel people's suspicion. Imagine if you had a cold and people were like, he doesn't really have that cold. That stuffiness is a choice. Yeah, it's really frustrating and it speaks to people's ignorance about depression. All right. So if any of you struggle with mental illness or even others out there who are watching this and you struggle with addiction, this is a big part of the stigma. A lot of people who don't understand addiction or depression or anxiety or trauma or PTSD or bipolar or schizoaffective or borderline personality, I can go on and on and on. They think that this is a choice. Like that's what drives me nuts. And one of the reasons why I make this channel to increase awareness and educate people, a lot of them think that we can just push a button and not be depressed anymore, turn this switch off and we'll no longer be an addict. And like it's not that simple, right? But here's the thing. Here is my message to everyone else out there, right? All of you watching this who are who are here and you follow my channel to get help for your mental illness. Here's the thing. Neil Brennan and all the effort he's put in to overcome his depression. I don't see a lot of people doing the same thing. Like here's the reality of the situation. Mental illness does not just go away on its own. There's an old saying that I love and that's if nothing changes, nothing changes. Recently, I've joined some depression and anxiety and mental illness support groups on Facebook and I see a lot of people in there just talking about the problem. That's one of the reasons why the tagline of my YouTube channel is we talk about the problem, but we focus on the solution. Nobody's ever gotten better by just talking about the problem. Like I'm here to present you with various solutions to help you overcome your symptoms of mental illness. But one of the issues I take with this whole stigma around mental illness is is that some of us are perpetuating that stigma by not putting in any effort. Like, OK, I get it. You struggle with depression. So do I. I get it. You struggle with anxiety. So do I. But like how much work are you putting into it? Like what are you doing to try to overcome it? Are you going to therapy? Are you trying medications? Have you tried this meditation thing that I am trying to beat into your skull on a daily basis? Are you willing to do 10, 20 minutes of meditation when the science is there that it helps to decrease symptoms of mental illness? Because if you're not putting any effort forth, you are part of the problem. You're part of the reason why people stigmatize mental illness because there's so many people out there struggling with mental illness who are putting in this much effort, absolutely zero. So I really want you to take that to heart and I might have made you mad and I hope I made you mad. I hope that by me saying this, by me calling you out on this, it's making you want to go out there and put in some actual effort because you you do not have the right to talk about the problem unless you are doing everything it takes. If you are trying every single possible solution, that's what upsets me so much when I'm trying to sell people on meditation. Right. Like I know how it's impacted my life and so many people they hear the word meditation, they're like, I'm just not going to try it. And I'm sitting there like five minutes a day to start out with five minutes a day. Like if you're not willing to work on your mental health for five minutes a day, in my opinion, you have absolutely no right to complain about anything. And I I'm sorry to be so blunt about this. But when I see people like Neil Brennan, who are inspiring where they have done so much for their mental health, like it inspires me. And like I try to explain this to people like I made another video, which I'll link in the info card, which says like somebody asked me, are you happy all the time? And for the most part, yes, I'm somebody diagnosed with depression, anxiety. I'm a recovering drug addict and alcoholic. And I put in a lot of work for my mental health, a lot of work. I meditate every single day. I'm on my medications. I do a lot of other things to improve my mental health. So if you're watching this, if you're still with me, go out there, put in some work, put some effort towards overcoming your symptoms of mental illness. Now, as far as depression, I know one of the symptoms of depression is lacking motivation. And you just got to take this leap of faith. You've got to force yourself to start trying new things, or you'll never get out of that depressive rut. And I'll make some more videos about jump starting the system in your brain to overcome depression. All right. So anyways, if you haven't yet, go check out three bikes from Neil Brennan on Netflix. It's hilarious, but it also gives you a lot of insight into depression. All right. So I hope I didn't make you too mad. OK, but if you like this video, please give it a thumbs up. And you know what? I'm telling you right now, if you know somebody out there, if you know somebody out there who is complaining about their mental illness and they put zero effort into overcoming their mental illness, do me a favor, share this video with them right now. But anyways, again, like this video if you liked it. OK, and if you're new here, I'm always making videos to help you with out with your mental health. So go ahead, click that little round subscribe button right below this box. Also, if you haven't, like, checked out some of the other videos on this channel, click or tap on one of those thumbnails to the left of me. Bunch of videos on this channel. All right, but thanks so much for watching, everybody. I'll see you next time.