Laughing At The Office

In almost any form of popular culture, you will often see and hear jokes that shed light on subjects such as suicide or depression. In a popular TV show, The Office, there are numerous amounts of jokes and references to suicide and depression. Most people don't think much about these jokes, but in reality they can have a pretty big impact on one's health. Humor already puts people in a better mood, and at some point in everyone's life they come across the feeling of depression. By laughing at jokes made about depression and suicide, you are practicing self deprecating humor.

The act of self deprecation is defined as “tending or serving to disparage or undervalue oneself,” according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary. The way I understand this

However, I did not realize what it truly meant to me until the summer going into my senior year of high school. That summer was somewhat of a rough patch in my life. My father had a midlife crisis and made lots of rash decisions. I also had to start thinking about colleges and preparing for the ACT. Whenever I became stressed by all of the drama my dad created or if I thought about college too much, I turned to The Office. I would constantly binge watch it in my room alone and it distract me from all that was going on. I also was brainstorming ideas what to write my thesis on. I came up with a list of things that I like to start coming up with ideas. Of course, on that list was The

I'd like to preface by saying I have not been formally diagnosed with depression, I self diagnosed myself using Webmd and various online quizzes. After I decided on The Office for my thesis, I watched a few episodes of The Office with a new mindset. I had the perspective of watching the show with the realization that I’d watch this when I felt “depressed.” Now knowing this, I began to wondering if self deprecating humor in popular culture is an effective way of coping with depression. On the website “dictionary.com,” a self deprecating person is described as “A person knows her own weaknesses and shortcomings and isn't afraid to point them out, often in a humorous way.” My focus is specifically on the TV show The Office, however, I recognize that there is plenty of humor surrounding mental health in social media and other various forms of pop