Ruby Wax Quote

It's an unfortunate word, 'depression', because the illness has nothing to do with feeling sad, sadness is on the human palette. Depression is a whole other beast. It's when your old personality has left town and been replaced by a block of cement with black tar oozing through your veins and mind. This is when you can't decide whether to get a manicure or jump off a cliff. It's all the same. When I was institutionalised I sat on a chair unable to move for three months, frozen in fear. To take a shower was inconceivable. What made it tolerable was while I was inside, I found my tribe - my people. They understood and unlike those who don't suffer, never get bored of you asking if it will ever go away? They can talk medication all hours, day and night; heaven to my ears.

Ruby Wax

It's an unfortunate word, 'depression', because the illness has nothing to do with feeling sad, sadness is on the human palette. Depression is a whole other beast. It's when your old personality has left town and been replaced by a block of cement with black tar oozing through your veins and mind. This is when you can't decide whether to get a manicure or jump off a cliff. It's all the same. When I was institutionalised I sat on a chair unable to move for three months, frozen in fear. To take a shower was inconceivable. What made it tolerable was while I was inside, I found my tribe - my people. They understood and unlike those who don't suffer, never get bored of you asking if it will ever go away? They can talk medication all hours, day and night; heaven to my ears.

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About Ruby Wax

Ruby Wax (née Wachs; born 19 April 1953) is an American-British actress, comedian, writer, television presenter, and mental health campaigner. A classically-trained actress, Wax co-starred on the ITV sitcom Girls on Top (1985–1986), and came to prominence as a comic interviewer, playing up to British perceptions of the strident American style on television shows including The Full Wax (1991–1994), Ruby Wax Meets... (1994–1998), Ruby (1997–2000), and The Ruby Wax Show (2002). She was a script editor for the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2012), also appearing in two episodes.
Wax holds both American and British citizenship and has resided in the United Kingdom since the 1970s. In 2013, she gained a master's degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy from Kellogg College, Oxford. In 2015, she was appointed a Visiting Professor in Mental Health Nursing at the University of Surrey. Wax was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 Special Honours for services to mental health. Her memoirs How Do You Want Me? (2002) and Sane New World (2013) both reached number one on the Sunday Times bestseller list.