{"id":2603,"date":"2026-05-19T15:15:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T15:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/?p=2603"},"modified":"2026-05-19T15:15:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T15:15:17","slug":"paula-poundstone-on-the-healing-power-of-humor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/?p=2603","title":{"rendered":"Paula Poundstone on the Healing Power of Humor"},"content":{"rendered":"


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May is Mental Health Awareness Month<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

When comedian Paula Poundstone steps on stage, sporting one of her well-known zoot suits, she takes the microphone and does what she does best \u2014 make people laugh.<\/p>\n

What her audience may not realize, though, is that throughout her life, Poundstone has dealt with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)<\/a>, a mental health condition that causes obsessive thoughts that lead to compulsions, and depression<\/a>. Doing stand-up comedy is just one way she\u2019s managed her conditions.<\/p>\n

\n

Diagnosed with OCD<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Although Poundstone believes she may have had OCD as early as fourth grade, she was officially diagnosed about 25 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would find someone I was obsessed with, and I would call that person a lot,\u201d Poundstone said. \u201cI also had repetitive thoughts. For example, my friend Martha was a staff member at a school I attended. All day long I would think, \u2018Martha doesn\u2019t like me.\u2019 Eventually, I would ask Martha, and she would say, \u2018That\u2019s not how I feel.\u2019 Then I\u2019d feel this huge relief,\u201d explained Poundstone. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut the second I\u2019d hang up, I\u2019d think, \u2018Martha doesn\u2019t like me.\u2019 I would think it over and over and over again,\u201d Poundstone said. <\/p>\n

After she was diagnosed by a mental health professional, Poundstone said that just knowing why she was having these types of obsessive thoughts helped her somewhat.<\/p>\n

She was prescribed a medication to help with her OCD, and she took it, but it introduced a whole new set of problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my fault because it said to be careful if you drink with this medication. I was being so careful, but I think that the two things interacted poorly,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

For Poundstone, mixing the medication with alcohol made her OCD worse. She ended up having a lot more symptoms than she\u2019d had before.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent about a day or two where I felt like I had to walk like a knight in chess. I could go two steps forward, but then one step sideways. Packing to go on tour took forever. It was hellacious,\u201d recalled Poundstone.<\/p>\n

When she stopped taking the medicine, her symptoms went away. Even though she no longer has OCD symptoms, she thinks they\u2019re like a sleeping tiger that may come back one day.<\/p>\n

For people who don\u2019t understand how OCD feels, she likes to reference the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind<\/em><\/em>.<\/p>\n

In one scene, the character Roy Neary, played by Richard Dreyfuss, begins to shape his mashed potatoes at dinner into the form of Devils Tower National Monument. His wife and kids are upset and crying. He says, \u201cThis is important. This means something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd no one else gets it. They had no idea what he was doing or talking about. Even if it did mean something, why did he need to make it out of mashed potatoes?\u201d said Poundstone. His compulsion to make that shape is what OCD can feel like to some people. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"paula<\/div>\n
\n

Dealing with depression<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Over the years, different therapists have diagnosed Poundstone with depression<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve probably had it my whole life. I mean, it\u2019s biochemical,\u201d she said. She discovered what most helped her when she was working on a book called The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness, <\/em><\/em>which she published in 2017. <\/em><\/em>\u201cThe purpose was to make jokes, but the premise was quite sincere. The whole premise was that I was doing experiments \u2014 things that I or other people thought would make me happy. Each chapter was a different experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first one she did was the \u201cGet Fit\u201d experiment, where she introduced exercise into her life.<\/p>\n

Turns out, it\u2019s exactly what worked for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cExercise is one of the things that causes that happy chemical release,\u201d Poundstone said. When exercising, the body can release feel-good endorphins<\/a> that may help with depression and anxiety. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was so hoping it was going to turn out to be just sitting in a chair eating Doritos, but it isn\u2019t,\u201d said Poundstone.<\/p>\n

Because she knows it helps with depression, Poundstone walks any time she can. Whether it\u2019s taking out her dog, to do chores or go to appointments, she walks.<\/p>\n

She also jumps on a pogo stick, and each day, she adds one jump. As of our interview, she was up to 55 jumps.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Poundstone is talking about mental health \u2014 and people are listening<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On her podcast, \u201cNobody Listens to Paula Poundstone,\u201d which just recorded its 400th episode, Poundstone often talks about mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important because \u2018Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone\u2019 is your comedy field guide to life, and nearly everybody has some sort of mental health something,\u201d she said. \u201cI would say the challenge of a mental health problem is this feeling that, somehow, you\u2019re the only one who has it, and that is just not true.\u201d <\/p>\n

In addition to being comedy, Poundstone said that the podcast also has the backbone of real information, and she likes sharing things that she thinks are important for listeners to know.<\/p>\n

Poundstone also jokes about her mental health in her comedy routines, not only to help herself, but her audience as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cComedy is a coping mechanism that nature\u2019s given us,\u201d she said. \u201cOne of the things about comedy is there\u2019s this kind of laugh that I call the \u2018recognition laugh.\u2019 That\u2019s where people are laughing not because what you said is so terribly clever, but because they think, I have that. I do that. A lot of times, [the topics are] things that we don\u2019t generally talk about \u2014 and mental health definitely falls into that category.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

From Your Site Articles<\/p>\n

Related Articles Around the Web<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. When comedian Paula Poundstone steps on stage, sporting one of her well-known zoot suits, she takes the microphone and does what she does best \u2014 make people laugh. What her audience may not realize, though, is that throughout her life, Poundstone has dealt with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a mental health condition that causes obsessive thoughts that lead to compulsions, and depression. Doing stand-up comedy is just one way she\u2019s managed her conditions. Diagnosed with OCD Although Poundstone believes she may have had OCD as early as fourth grade, she was officially diagnosed about 25 years ago. \u201cI would find someone I was obsessed with, and I would call that person a lot,\u201d Poundstone said. \u201cI also had repetitive thoughts. For example, my friend Martha was a staff member at a school I attended. All day long I would think, \u2018Martha doesn\u2019t like me.\u2019 Eventually, I would ask Martha, and she would say, \u2018That\u2019s not how I feel.\u2019 Then I\u2019d feel this huge relief,\u201d explained Poundstone. \u201cBut the second I\u2019d hang up, I\u2019d think, \u2018Martha doesn\u2019t like me.\u2019 I would think it over and over and over again,\u201d Poundstone said. After she was diagnosed by a mental health professional, Poundstone said that just knowing why she was having these types of obsessive thoughts helped her somewhat. She was prescribed a medication to help with her OCD, and she took it, but it introduced a whole new set of problems. \u201cIt was my fault because it said to be careful if you drink with this medication. I was being so careful, but I think that the two things interacted poorly,\u201d she said. For Poundstone, mixing the medication with alcohol made her OCD worse. She ended up having a lot more symptoms than she\u2019d had before. \u201cI spent about a day or two where I felt like I had to walk like a knight in chess. I could go two steps forward, but then one step sideways. Packing to go on tour took forever. It was hellacious,\u201d recalled Poundstone. When she stopped taking the medicine, her symptoms went away. Even though she no longer has OCD symptoms, she thinks they\u2019re like a sleeping tiger that may come back one day. For people who don\u2019t understand how OCD feels, she likes to reference the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In one scene, the character Roy Neary, played by Richard Dreyfuss, begins to shape his mashed potatoes at dinner into the form of Devils Tower National Monument. His wife and kids are upset and crying. He says, \u201cThis is important. This means something.\u201d \u201cAnd no one else gets it. They had no idea what he was doing or talking about. Even if it did mean something, why did he need to make it out of mashed potatoes?\u201d said Poundstone. His compulsion to make that shape is what OCD can feel like to some people. Dealing with depression Over the years, different therapists have diagnosed Poundstone with depression. \u201cI think I\u2019ve probably had it my whole life. I mean, it\u2019s biochemical,\u201d she said. She discovered what most helped her when she was working on a book called The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness, which she published in 2017. \u201cThe purpose was to make jokes, but the premise was quite sincere. The whole premise was that I was doing experiments \u2014 things that I or other people thought would make me happy. Each chapter was a different experience.\u201d The first one she did was the \u201cGet Fit\u201d experiment, where she introduced exercise into her life. Turns out, it\u2019s exactly what worked for her. \u201cExercise is one of the things that causes that happy chemical release,\u201d Poundstone said. When exercising, the body can release feel-good endorphins that may help with depression and anxiety. \u201cI was so hoping it was going to turn out to be just sitting in a chair eating Doritos, but it isn\u2019t,\u201d said Poundstone. Because she knows it helps with depression, Poundstone walks any time she can. Whether it\u2019s taking out her dog, to do chores or go to appointments, she walks. She also jumps on a pogo stick, and each day, she adds one jump. As of our interview, she was up to 55 jumps. Poundstone is talking about mental health \u2014 and people are listening On her podcast, \u201cNobody Listens to Paula Poundstone,\u201d which just recorded its 400th episode, Poundstone often talks about mental health. \u201cIt\u2019s important because \u2018Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone\u2019 is your comedy field guide to life, and nearly everybody has some sort of mental health something,\u201d she said. \u201cI would say the challenge of a mental health problem is this feeling that, somehow, you\u2019re the only one who has it, and that is just not true.\u201d In addition to being comedy, Poundstone said that the podcast also has the backbone of real information, and she likes sharing things that she thinks are important for listeners to know. Poundstone also jokes about her mental health in her comedy routines, not only to help herself, but her audience as well. \u201cComedy is a coping mechanism that nature\u2019s given us,\u201d she said. \u201cOne of the things about comedy is there\u2019s this kind of laugh that I call the \u2018recognition laugh.\u2019 That\u2019s where people are laughing not because what you said is so terribly clever, but because they think, I have that. I do that. A lot of times, [the topics are] things that we don\u2019t generally talk about \u2014 and mental health definitely falls into that category.\u201d From Your Site Articles Related Articles Around the Web Source link<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}