A comedy show was held on campus on Sept. 14 to discuss mental health for National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.
The show was held in the Recital Hall and hosted by the Dean of Student Wellness and Support Services Victoria Flores and Director of Student Mental Health Services Taylor Johnson.
“There is so much mental health stigma and most people don’t feel comfortable talking about it and we really wanted to bring a show that might help decrease that stigma, get people laughing a little bit and the education at the end,” Flores said.
Four comedians performed from Rocklin’s 1 Degree of Separation, a comedy group that aims to end the stigma of mental illness by bringing dialogue, awareness and acceptance for those who are struggling with depression through laughter.
“When you can take something dark and tragic and you can laugh, it makes it smaller, it makes it less and it helps you get through it,” said Brad Bonar Jr, the founder of 1 Degree of Separation.
The comedy group has performed for sixth grade classes and up. Taylor Johnson has worked with 1 Degree in the past on high school campuses and the group reached out to her to put on the show.
Bonar asked five questions after the stand-up portion of the show and all the comics shared their responses to those questions. He encouraged the audience to answer the questions after the show as well.
Bonar said he started the group after watching “Inside My Mind,” the Robin Williams HBO documentary about a man who hung himself. He said the documentary didn’t address depression and he wanted to get comics together to create a show that addressed the topics of depression and suicide.
“I found a suicide note I wrote when I was in the sixth grade and at first I thought ‘Oh sixth grade. That’s cute,’” Bonar said. “But then I thought that since at least the sixth grade my whole life, I had suicidal ideation and I never talked about it.”
Comedian Carlos Rodriguez has been with the comedy group since they first started six years ago. He said he has struggled with drugs and alcohol abuse.
“I am a recovering alcoholic and addict. I have been sober for about 11 years now,” Rodriguez said. “I get depressed, I get angry and then I would self-medicate and when I started getting sober and I met my sponsor, one of the first things that we started going over was ‘Don’t let other people control you’ and that was so powerful.”
Chelsea Bearce, a new comedian to 1 Degree, had her first show here at CRC and is a survivor of domestic abuse.
Bearce said she grew up in a church and her mother didn’t believe that depression was real.
“In her mind it wasn’t real because if you had God, he takes it all away,” Bearce said. “She didn’t understand and she didn’t think that her daughter would have it.”
Sydney Stigerts, a comic from El Dorado Hills, said that her depression feels very heavy.
“It’s hard to move, almost like I am drowning,” Stigerts said. “I can see the surface and I need to get up there but I just can’t.”
If students are struggling with their mental health, they are encouraged to reach out for help and access the free services offered here on campus, said Flores.
“We just want to give our students the tools and resources to really be successful with their time here at the Los Rios Community Colleges with their educational goals and their life,” Flores said.
For more information on 1 Degree, click here.