Ted Tuesday: Kevin Breel— Confessions Of A Depressed Comic

"So we need to stop the ignorance, stop the intolerance, stop the stigma, and stop the silence, and we need to take away the taboos, take a look at the truth, and start talking, because the only way we're going to beat a problem that people are battling alone is by standing strong together, by standing strong together."

Good Morning Folks,

You have heard me refer to the Mitch Institute of Training (MIT) at FSO where we aim to be life coaches as much as business coaches. Because we believe employees with a healthy work life balance enable better customer experiences.

Today's TED Talker, with almost 3 million combined views on multiple platforms,  tackles a subject most of us are a little uncomfortable with. Yet its something very misunderstood that touches the lives of those we may know and perhaps even someone reading this right now. So in the TED spirit of sharing and enlightenment, where I have brought you difficult subjects (like addiction) in the past to generate awareness and compassion, I present  Kevin Breel— Confessions of a depressed comic.

Kevin Breel didn't look like a depressed kid: team captain, at every party, funny and confident. But he tells the story of the night he realized that -- to save his own life -- he needed to say four simple words.

In Breel’s talk, given at TEDxKids@Ambleside, the 19-year-old reveals that, while he seemed to be living a great life as a high school basketball player, he was actually contemplating suicide. He urges people to break the silence that surrounds depression because “as much as I hate some of the places that my depression has dragged me down to, in a lot of ways I’m grateful for it.” On the Today Show, interviewer Willie Geist asks Breel about this bold statement.

“Life is about duality,” Breel says. “There’s happiness; there’s sadness; there’s light; there’s dark; there’s hope; there’s hurt. And I think that, for me, nothing in my whole life has ever helped me understand more about myself, more about others, more about life than dealing with depression.”

According to Kevin, "The world I believe in is one where we're measured by our ability to overcome adversities, not avoid them."  In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why there’s no “easy” cure for depression.
• What to do when you’re struggling to get out of bed.
• The importance therapy and how it might help you.
• How looks can be deceiving.

He explains in the talk...

I hope you found this as informative and inspirational as I did.

Thanks to TED and to you for listening.

Have a GREAT Day,



Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE.  

About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the third consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.