HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – October 14, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) — Sarah Silverman has made a career out of her irreverent wit. Silverman’s recent interview with Glamour magazine, however revealed another side of the Emmy-winning comedienne. Siverman lived through many years battling depression, anxiety and “crippling panic attacks.”
The 44 year-old actress, writer and producer told Glamour magazine that when she was just 13, she became became depressed after returning from a “miserable” school field trip where she hid her “gigantic and shameful secret” of bed-wetting from her friends.
She went on to say, “My mom was there to pick me up, and she was taking pictures like a paparazzo. Seeing her made the stress of the last few days hit home, and something shifted inside me. It happened as fast as the sun going behind a cloud. You know how you can be fine one moment, and the next it’s, ‘Oh my God, I f—ing have the flu!?’ It was like that. Only this flu lasted for three years.”
Silverman went on to say, “My whole perspective changed. I went from being the class clown to not being able to see life in that casual way anymore.”
“Every breath is labored. You are dying. You are going to die. It’s terrifying. And then when the attack is over, the depression is still there,” she explained. “Once, my stepdad asked me, ‘What does it feel like?’ And I said, ‘It feels like I’m desperately homesick, but I’m home.’ ”
“I’ve lived with depression and learned to control it, or at least to ride the waves as best I can. I’m on a small dose of Zoloft, which, combined with therapy, keeps me healthy but still lets me feel highs and lows.”
In the interview for Glamour’s November issue she also says that acknowledging her depression instead of hiding behind it while onstage has actually transformed her comedy.
“The dark years and those ups and downs – chemical and otherwise – have always informed my work; I believe being a comedian is about exposing yourself, warts and all,” she said. “But my stand-up has evolved along with me.”
