One man’s story shines as a beacon of hope. Dave, a listener of the LOA Today podcast, sat down with hosts Walt and Anne-Marie to share his remarkable journey of transforming his battle with bipolar disorder, severe anxiety, and PTSD into a platform for laughter and healing.

As Dave recounted his harrowing experiences, the listeners were captivated by the raw honesty and vulnerability in his words. “One day, I was driving down the freeway between businesses, and my mind just snapped,” he recalled, describing the moment his life took an unexpected turn. “My face went slack, my voice went monotone, and my vision got blurry. It was everything I could do to get home and just try to be.”

The ensuing years were a constant struggle, as Dave grappled with the unpredictable cycles of mania and depression. “I didn’t know who was going to wake up in the morning,” he confessed. “I hid in the shadows and suffered in silence.” The emotional and physical toll was immense, with Dave even reaching a point where he was unable to shower for months due to the crippling depression.

But it was during his darkest moments that Dave found an unexpected ally: humor. After his wife encouraged him to attend a local NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) meeting, Dave discovered a stand-up comedy class that would change the trajectory of his life.

“For some reason, I thought I could do that,” Dave said, recalling the moment he decided to give comedy a try. “I had this talent to write jokes, to come up with material. And what we did is we looked at our hard times and our dark days, and that’s where our material comes from.”

As Dave began to explore the humor in his own experiences, a remarkable transformation occurred. “Instead of the neuroplasticity that I believe in, you know, the pathways in the brain, my pathways were deep on the going back to the trauma and the triggers, over and over and over and over,” he explained. “And I’d get PTSD four or five, six times a day, just from different stimuli. And then I’d say, ‘Where can I find the humor in that?’ It just changed the pathway in my brain.”

This shift in perspective not only helped Dave manage his own mental health challenges but also inspired him to share his newfound approach with others. He now teaches stand-up comedy classes to individuals struggling with various mental health conditions, guiding them to find the humor in their own stories.

“There hasn’t been one person that hasn’t been able to find humor and write jokes,” Dave shared. “I help them write the jokes, but find the humor in their experiences. And frankly, it changes lives.”

One such life-changing story is that of Molly, a former doctor who had to give up her practice due to her bipolar disorder. “Molly was suicidal,” Dave recalled. “Her mom said, ‘I’m worried about her. She’s suicidal. I know she’s not going to be here soon.’ And she took the class, and we started to find the funny. And now Molly, she’s not a doctor, but she considers herself a comic, and she performs around town. And now that’s her identity, and she feels good about it.”

As Walt and Anne-Marie listened intently, they were struck by the power of Dave’s message. “The whole that, the thing that stuck with me throughout all of this, and the thing that I will continue to be thinking about, is, where is the humor in this?” Anne-Marie shared. “What a wonderful question to ask yourself too throughout the day.”

Indeed, Dave’s journey serves as a testament to the transformative potential of humor in the face of adversity. By embracing the absurdity and finding the laughter in his darkest moments, he not only reclaimed his own life but also inspired others to do the same.

“Doing something nice for somebody, it makes their somebody else’s day a little brighter, but it brings us happiness and joy that we never you know, you don’t do it because you expect anything in return, and you end up with with happiness and joy,” Dave reflected, underscoring the ripple effect of his work.

Reach Dave on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/davemowry2/

Follow the LOA Today podcast:  https://www.loatoday.net/follow

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