SAD CLOWN PARADOX:WHY TEARS OFTEN LIE BEHIND THE LAUGHS

Mental health issues are common among comedians and performing is just one way they can self-medicate

- DR DEAN BURNETT

When the news broke of the tragic passing on 28 October of the comedy actor, and everyone’s sarcastic favourite in Friends, Matthew Perry (right), the tributes didn’t focus solely on his talents for making people laugh. Featured prominently in the obituaries were his struggles with mental health and addictions to alcohol and painkillers, something the man himself would undoubtedly have approved of given his openness on the subject.

Perry wasn’t unique in this. Many comedy icons – Robin Williams and Spike Milligan spring most easily to mind – are well known for their mental health struggles.

Such talents lend themselves to the ‘tears of a clown’ cliché, a concept best illustrated by the old punchline delivered when a depressed patient goes to see a doctor. The physician advises them to go and see the famous clown Pagliacci to lighten their spirits, only for the patient to burst into tears and reply: “But Doctor, I am Pagliacci.”

Why would people so gifted at making others laugh be prone to struggle with their own happiness? Some surprisingly logical explanations can be offered by the workings of the human brain.

Humans are extremely social creatures: our brains experience pleasure when others approve of us, and pain if we’re rejected socially. A low social status is reliably linked to mental health issues, like depression and anxiety.