Conversations Cafe: The Hero In You
Our March Conversations Cafe, “The Hero In You”, was recorded by Anthologies of Hope as a live podcast featuring comedian, wrestling enthusiast, and mental health advocate Marty DeRosa.
Marty discussed utilizing comedy and wrestling to cope with depression, as well as the importance of therapy.
When his battle with depression began, Marty quickly sought out allies through a growing passion for comedy. He found that in his community, there were a large amount of others overcoming their own obstacles, and took solace in the fact that they were all fighting their own battles, but together.
DeRosa’s passion for both comedy and wrestling, alongside a journey to fight for positive prevention, led him to create the podcast, Wrestling With Depression. Though the podcast is no longer running, he utilized the media form to bring on comedians, wrestlers, and other entertainers to talk about their personal obstacles, all the while keeping things informative and lighthearted by way of comedy.
The comedian and podcast host left attendees with two very valuable pieces of advice: find the right therapist, and take solace in a passion to turn your brain off once in a while and embark on a self-care journey.
Marty DeRosa talks about mental health and therapy with HFTD Programs Director, Carl Evans
The challenge to find the right therapist can be a very discouraging block in the road. However, Marty recommends utilizing your community and friend groups to continue your journey to finding the right one.
"You get to talk to someone uninterrupted. You're the star of the show and there's no judgement," he explains in regards to the importance of therapy.
He also describes the importance of taking a half hour before and after a session to process and review your thoughts and state of being. He explains that therapy is a process that should not take place only in the appointment, but at all times as it is a journey to self improvement.
Marty ended the Conversations Cafe with a few jokes, but instilled one very important message: “Mental health is a spectrum, relative to the individual.” There is no hierarchy to the mental health status of a community. We Are In This Together.
You can listen to the live podcast on Anthologies of Hope here.
Conversations Cafe takes place once a month at Sip of Hope and features education and dialogue on the intersections of mental health within our communities. Attend next month’s Conversations Cafe on April 17, 2019.