Tom Scharpling on Suicidal Ideation, Depression, In-Patient Care, ECT, and Memory Loss

Within the comedy world, Tom Scharpling is known as a bit of a
Swiss Army Knife. He’s the host of the long running Best
Show, online now and on WFMU before that. He’s a veteran TV
writer on shows like Monk and What We Do
In The Shadows. He directs music videos. Now he’s a book
writer, with the memoir It Never Ends. In that book and in our
interview, he tells stories of his own mental health journey that
he’s never shared with an audience before.


Tom started running into trouble with depression when he was
around ten years old, which evolved into two hospital stays, the
second of which involved electroconvulsive therapy. That
treatment wiped out the depression but wiped out a big chunk of
his memory in the process.


Get your copy of It Never Ends: A Memoir With Nice Memories! at
www.tomwroteabook.com or wherever books are found. Follow Tom on
Twitter @scharpling.


Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly
members of Maximum Fun. 


Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear
what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you
like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at
depreshmode@maximumfun.org.


Help is available right away.


The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255,
1-800-273-TALK


Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.


International suicide hotline numbers available
here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines


The Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe
for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health
issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/


John's acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is
available here.


Find the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.


John is on Twitter @johnmoe.