Alissa Orber is a comedian in Los Angeles. She was 28 when I interviewed her in Brooklyn, NY, on March 10, 2014.

Here's a snippet from her interview:

Des: Do you address this kind of subject matter in your comedy?

Alissa: I don't, really. The thing is, sometimes it depends on the crowd. A lot of people get super uncomfortable when you talk about it... I feel like this is something that we have to deal with, [but] people don't really react favorably to it, so I don't address it that much. I do address my feelings of inadequacy in comedy. Basically, my comedy is me getting up there and talking about how awful I am, and hoping that people laugh at it, and it seems to have been going over pretty well so far.

Des: Does it make you feel better?

Alissa: Yeah!

Des: Tell me more about comedians and depression, or alcoholism, or suicide.

Alissa: Well, comedy... A sense of humor, in itself, is a defense mechanism. My defense mechanism is just more palatable than [some] other people's. It's something you can make money off of, honestly. I think, with a defense mechanism like that, I got it from feeling neglected as a child, being bullied. It's a defense mechanism that people who've not had it so well usually develop, and therefore they're already prone to depression. I think that's really a big part of it.

Also, I think you have to be smart to be funny, and people who are smart are usually miserable. I just read somewhere that people with higher IQs are generally pretty miserable. I get it. When you know what's going on, it's kind of depressing.

Luckily, I never developed any real addictions to anything, but that is common in comedy, as well—alcoholism, drug use. There's just that need to disconnect from how depressed you are.

You can read the rest of her story over on the website.

Cecilia Markow is a 19 year old musician and student from Austin, TX. I interviewed her in November 2013.

Once my internet connection gets fixed, her story will live at http://livethroughthis.org/cecelia-markow

In the meantime, you can see some of it on film (courtesy of the Mental Health Channel) here: http://mentalhealthchannel.tv/episode/live-through-this

If you’re feeling suicidal, please talk to somebody. You can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. 

Thanks again to Whitney Rakich for transcribing Cissy's interview.

David Pajo is a New Jersey-based musician known for his work with bands like Slint, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Interpol. He was 46 when I interviewed him in New York City on March 11, 2015.

Read his story on the website at http://livethroughthis.org/david-pajo/

Lyndee McKinley is a foster parent and owner of a catering company. She was 23 when I interviewed her in Austin, TX, on November 26, 2013.

You can read her story on the website here.