Depression hits people from all walks of life to the tune of 20 million people being treated every year in the US alone. Most people do not realize it, but celebrities are a whole lot like everyone else. They may have more money and a bit more time in the spotlight; it may even seem like they have it easy and suffer from little if any real world problems. The fact is celebrities suffer from mental illness the same as everyone else does. It sometimes seems to strike them more often than regular folks because when they get depressed it is all over the news.
Jim Carrey’s Life
Jim Carrey was born James Eugene Carrey on January 17, 1962 in Ontario, Canada. His three older siblings and he grew up in a modest home with their parents Percy and Kathleen Carrey. His education was limited because he dropped out of high school at age 16 to help care for his very sick mother along with his siblings. Everyone worked to handle the finances but the financial difficulties never seemed to subside. The jobs were not what would be considered respectable in most circles and were typically security guard or janitor positions in the area. This difficult period may have worked to fuel Jim Carrey’s depression as he held a significant amount of anger bottled up inside, his anger about his situation in life and why it was that his family had to suffer so very much.
Around the age of 17, Jim Carrey moved to Los Angeles and started working in The Comedy Club as an opening act for Rodney Dangerfield. That was not where his comedy started (which was actually an attempt at making his sick mother laugh), but it was where it heated up. In 1981 he worked in the movie “Rubberface” and worked as a stand up comic and as a regular on the hit television comedy “In Living Color” before making a hit in his own starring movie roles.
Jim Carrey with Depression
After moving up from near poverty to smashing successes in the box office, you would think Jim Carrey had it made, but he struggled with his own demon: Jim Carrey with depression. It is believed that he suffered from chronic depression which he described as having lows and highs as well as a constant state of despair. He was married twice and had a daughter but through it all, he suffered with depression.
He even took Prozac for some time to help him through the depression as well as going through psychotherapy to work out his problems. Eventually he got off of Prozac and is believed to be depression-free. In an interview he said he copes with any depressive feelings through spirituality and stated, “I rarely drink coffee. I'm very serious about no alcohol, no drugs. Life is too beautiful”
