Connecticut Families: Upcoming comedy show in Avon will give tools for improving mental health

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — An important show is coming to Avon that will uniquely address mental health issues through comedy.

“There are more mental health needs now than ever,” Lynne Benjamin, an assistant professor of nursing at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, said.

She’s also the Farmington Valley Board President of NAMI – the National Alliance on Mental Illness , which she recently brought to campus.

“It’s been really wonderful to see how passionate the students are,” she said.

This mom of four and NAMI are also involved in bringing an upcoming show to the community that addresses mental health through comedy.

“I was locked up in a mental hospital seven years ago for being suicidal. I was 54 years old, I had never talked about my depression, ever,” Brad Bonar of California who was a comedian said. “One of the things after my lockup I realized was that if I don’t do something active to take care of my mental health, then I’m not going to be around.”

He created the show 1 Degree of Separation and has taken it to 150 locations around the world, talking to students and adults.

“Really, what the show’s premise is – is that we all have one degree of separation from depression,” Benjamin explained. “If we, ourselves, don’t suffer from depression, then we know someone who does.”

The evening will feature several local comedians with lived experience who participate in a panel after the show, delving into five poignant questions: what do others do that makes it (feelings of depression) worse?

Funding for the upcoming show is the result of a grant from the Avon Greater Together Community Fund.

Benjamin said coming together to address issues around mental health is vitally important.

“We have to start having the conversation and decreasing that stigma so people can feel like they can get help,” she said.

The show is on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. in Avon High School for those aged 12 and up.

Click here for more information.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com.