Leave it to comedian Rosie O’Donnell to inject humor into “The View’s” special one-hour discussion about depression on Friday’s show, a subject Rosie knows all about.
“This is a yoga swing. You have to hang it from something that’s very sturdy and they swear to me that it can hold all of my weight,” Rosie said.
The technique Rosie bravely demonstrated on live TV is called inversion therapy, which she uses to help treat her own depression.
And Rosie revealed what led her to slip into a severely saddened state of mind and ultimately drove her to get help: the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School.
“For ten years my psychologist had said, ‘I think you're depressed.’ and I said, ‘No, I’m not. I’m just going to pull myself up by my bootstraps. I can do it and I’m funny,’” Rosie confessed. “Then, Columbine happened. It felt as if it was happening to me and I knew it wasn’t happening to me, and those were not my children, but it felt as if it was.
“I couldn't stop crying. I stayed in my room, the lights were off, I couldn't get out of bed, and that's when I started taking medication,” Rosie shared.
In addition to taking anti-depressants, Rosie said she hangs upside down every day to release neurotransmitters in her brain.
“What you do, it’s very simple. It looks scary but it’s not,” she promised. “You go like this... (flip)…then I’m upside down for an average of 15-30 minutes a day I do this. It’s good to have meetings like this.”
Rosie’s special co-host Friday was Linda Dano, who famously suffered depression following the death of her husband and mother within ten days of each other.
“Depression is a tough thing to deal with, but it is survivable. I am living proof,” Rosie told viewers.
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