Josh Ritter, Mummies, and High Functioning Depression
No, it's not a Broadway musical but hey maybe it should be
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Josh Ritter on the podcast
You should listen to this episode. I mean, you should listen to all of the episodes but certainly this one.
I’ve actually known the successful and popular singer-songwriter Josh Ritter for a while now, in a sense. He was a guest on my variety show, Wits, a few times and was always funny and candid in the brief interviews I did with him. I knew him on social media too. But I don’t think I knew him well, not enough to take the full measure of his complexity, specifically in regard to mental health.
That began to change when I saw this tweet:
And I kicked myself a little. Gently. Because I had fallen for it again. Here was Josh Ritter, a seemingly happy guy who had experienced a lot of success and it simply didn’t occur to me that someone like that could have any knowledge of depression.
And! of! course! he! can!
So I invited Josh on the show because I figured he had something to talk about and hoo boy does he ever. We talk about:
religious crises
bipolar II, which he has experienced but not talked about in interviews until this one
being overrun by “Braveheart guys” in Scotland
taking up running and feeling compelled to follow that path into marathon running
illnesses where your muscles kind of explode
It’s a delightful and fascinating interview, peppered with music from Josh.
Here’s a Cyndi Lauper cover he recently recorded:
Here’s a song that’s a love story between a lady and a mummy and I love this one:
Marionettes!
Schools turning to online therapy
It’s a basic supply and demand issue: schools don’t have enough counselors, can’t find enough, and meanwhile online counseling has become increasingly ubiquitous. Hammer meet nail.
According to the AP, 16 of the 20 largest school districts in the country are now offering online counseling options to students, making up $70 million in contracts for the providers.
The growth reflects a booming new business born from America’s youth mental health crisis, which has proven so lucrative that venture capitalists are funding a new crop of school teletherapy companies. Some experts raise concerns about the quality of care offered by fast-growing tech companies.
As schools cope with shortages of in-person practitioners, however, educators say teletherapy works for many kids, and it’s meeting a massive need. For rural schools and lower-income students in particular, it has made therapy easier to access. Schools let students connect with online counselors during the school day or after hours from home.
Life as a high functioning depressive
Andrea Rosenhaft is a therapist and also a person with depression. She reflects on her work and her mind in Psychology Today.
How do we do it? Margaret Rutherford writes, "Psychologically speaking, people with high-functioning depression are able to use the skill of compartmentalization, where you suppress your own personal feelings for the moment and instead, attend to the needs or expectations of the present.”
…
I get up every morning (around 2 AM or 3 AM) exhausted, but I can’t get back to sleep. Around 6 AM I take Shelby for a walk, feed her, and then get ready for work. I log onto my computer around 7 AM and send out the links to the sessions for the day. Then I walk Shelby again, especially if I have morning sessions. At 8 AM I sit down for the day and work until 7 PM or 8 PM. I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at my desk. I collapse at the end of the day and Shelby is begging for attention, so I play with her for a while. We go out for our evening walk, and when I come back upstairs, depending on how exhausted and computer weary I am, I may check my personal emails or leave them for early the next morning.
Draw Fast with drawfast
Fun little online drawing tool that lets you set out rough forms which it then interprets into detailed drawing. I could never draw the cityscape on the right but I had no problem forming the block collage on the left that inspired it.
Try it and let it suck up a few minutes of your Monday.
Gianmarco Soresi on Sleeping with Celebrities
Doze off to a lengthy student theater cv.
Do you remember all the plays you were a part of in school? Chances are Gianmarco Soresi remembers more plays than you do because he was in just so many, all of which he will recount for you as you drift off to sleep. Learn how Gianmarco acted and acted and acted through everything from Twelfth Night to something called Fiddler on the Roof Jr. Learn also how he ultimately forsook the theatrical stage for the smaller, more dank stage of standup comedy. Gianmarco Soresi’s appearance on Netflix’s Verified Stand-Up is available now.
Don't kick yourself too much, John. We can't go through life assuming *everyone* knows all about depression and anxiety. Only kick yourself if you assumed Josh didn't know because he seemed so happy. Or if you're a soccer ball. Kick yourself hard, then. Oh the places you'll go!