Steve is also director of the Psychosocial Oncology Program at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne.

Corporate gigs, hecklers, mining tours, audience indifference, silence, it takes a toll. How can comedians protect their sanity from the stresses of the comedy life? Sami speaks to Associate Professor and psychiatrist Dr Steve Ellen to find out.

STUDY NOTES

If you need to talk to someone about mental health there are many services available free of charge. Some are listed below.



Lifeline

www.lifeline.org.au

13 11 14

Suicideline

www.suicideline.org.au

1300 651 251

BeyondBlue

www.beyondblue.org.au

1300 22 4636





Associate Professor Steve Ellen

He's on Twitter, and also has a nifty website.

Steve also hosts a podcast with lawyer Bill O'Shea and ABC presenter Lindy Burns - Writs & Cures.

Listen to it live each Tuesday at 8 PM on 774 ABC Melbourne.

ARTICLE: Comedians and Mental Illness published on The Conversation by Associate Professor Steve Ellen.



STUDY: Psychotic traits in comedians published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.





You really don't need to read the whole thing but the concise summary is worth it.



In case you weren't sure, "anhedonia" means an "inability to feel pleasure in normally pleasurable activities." The study found this trait common in comedians, among others.





Host: Sami Shah

Producer: Courtney Carthy

Executive Producer: Ian Walker