Making others happy is not a panacea to get out of depression. According to studies creative artists are fifth in the top 10 professions with high rates of depressive illness. But does depression attract them to the job? Or does the job make them depressed?
Going by the revelation made by ace comedian, Owen Gee it is safe to believe that when things aren’t going as planned, entertainers are likely to slip into depression. Many were shocked when Owen Gee disclosed his battle with depression recently at an event in Lagos.
For years, I had taken different pills and drugs just to calm me down. I had taken antidepressants, high blood pressure drugs; and there were times that they had given me drugs that would just knock me out and make me sleep but when I woke up after a while, I would be back to the reality of things. However, none of the drugs was as powerful as self-rediscovery and prayers.
I felt better every time I prayed and I started reading inspiring books. I began to read stories that changed my thought process and whenever I saw a book with the word ‘think’ or how to work on your mind, I started reading them. I began to listen to inspirational songs like Majek Fashek’s Spirit of Love album, reggae songs. The Spirit of Love album had a lot of inspiration songs; I also listened to Redemption song by Bob Marley.
“I paid attention to things that got me excited. I also started going out not as Owen G but Mr. Owen Osamwengie. I started spending more time with my sons; my first son loves football a lot, so we would sit down and discuss football for hours. That was how I snapped out of depression”.
