Gary Gulman’s ‘Great Depresh’ a heartfelt look at depression, anxiety and loneliness

Each Friday in our newsletter, we are highlighting things that are relevant that also make us laugh. We are also highlighting stories and commentary from other media big and small throughout Ohio and the nation.

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Friday Funday

Like journalism, the best comedy is conducted with fearless, radical honesty, especially when the issues at hand are deeply serious. That’s what makes comedian Gary Gulman‘s HBO special, “The Great Depresh,” so human, so funny and so charming.

Gulman opens his heart to the world to show the reality of depression, anxiety and loneliness, and to talk candidly about it in ways that are so honest it becomes hysterical. If you can, check it out. If you don’t have access to HBO, here is a YouTube video of Gulman performing some of the same material on Conan, and here is a video of him talking to Conan about depression.

As Gulman notes, if anybody out there is struggling with depression, anxiety or loneliness, you are not alone, and there are people and resources out there to help.

Catching our eye:

A tragedy that’s touched us all. The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Terry DeMio has a very personal, heart-wrenching piece on what it’s like to be a reporter covering the tragedy of Ohio’s opioid crisis:

“I’d listen to anguished mothers who could not protect their children. I’d get calls from worried moms whose kids were calling them because they were sick from withdrawal in a jail cell. From frightened parents whose sons or daughters had relapsed and disappeared with the family car or a credit card…

“I also remember when most of these families depended on trial and error for help. Go to a doctor? Why? Most doctors had no clue how to treat their disease. I remember talking to the cops, because this was before health departments were involved in what was clearly a public health disaster. The cops threw up their hands.”

Overworked. The Toledo Blade editorial board is calling for parole reform in Ohio.

“Right now, on average, parole officers in Ohio have a workload of 76 cases each, though that varies by region. In northwest Ohio, the average caseload is 70 per officer,” the board writes. “There are 455 officers statewide supervising 34,633 people.

“Though the American Probation and Parole Association has not established caseload standards, experts generally have said the ratio of parole officers to parolees should be about 20 to 1 for high-risk cases, 40 to 1 for high to moderate risk, and an unlimited ratio for low-risk.

“It is crucial that parole officers be able to effectively monitor the releasees for whom they’re responsible.”