What's so funny about mental illness? | Ruby Wax

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Kontxi Larrañaga Reviewer: Jone Aliri Lazcano

One in four people suffer from some sort of mental illness,

Lau pertsonetatik batek gaixotasun psikikoren bat jasango du,

so if it was one, two, three, four, it's you, sir.

beraz, bat, bi, hiru, lau, zu zara jauna.

You. Yeah. (Laughter)

Bai, zu. (Barreak)

Hortz arraroduna. Eta zu, ondokoa. (Barreak)

With the weird teeth. And you next to him. (Laughter)

You know who you are.

Zuk badakizu zein zaren.

Actually, that whole row isn't right. (Laughter)

Egiaz, ilara guzti hori ez dago ongi. (Barreak)

That's not good. Hi. Yeah. Real bad. Don't even look at me. (Laughter)

Hori ere ez dago ongi.

Kaixo, bai. Oso gaizki. Ezta niri begiratu ere. (Barreak)

I am one of the one in four. Thank you.

Ni, lautik horietatik bat naiz. Eskerrik asko.

Uste dut nire amarengandik heredatu nuela.

I think I inherit it from my mother, who,

Etxean zehar lau oinean ibiltzen zen.

used to crawl around the house on all fours.

Esku bakoitzean esponja bana jartzen zituen,

She had two sponges in her hand, and then she had two

eta belaunetan beste bi lotuta.

tied to her knees. My mother was completely absorbent. (Laughter)

Nire amak erabat xurgatzen zintuen. (Barreak)

And she would crawl around behind me going,

Eta nire atzetik lau oinetan ibiltzen zen, esanez:

"Who brings footprints into a building?!"

Nork uzten ditu oinatzak etxean?

So that was kind of a clue that things weren't right.

Eta hori gauzak ongi ez zeudela

So before I start, I would like to thank

Beraz, hasi baino lehen,

hasi baino lehen,

lamotrigina, sertralina eta reboxetina

the makers of Lamotrigine, Sertraline, and Reboxetine,

asmatu zutenei eskerrak eman nahi nizkieke,

because without those few simple chemicals, I would not be vertical today.

botika horiek gabe

ez nintzakelako hemen zutik egongo.

Beraz,

So how did it start?

Eta nola hasi zen?

My mental illness -- well, I'm not even going to talk about my mental illness.

Nire gaixotasun psikikoa --

beno ez dut nire

gaixotasunari buruz hitz egingo.

What am I going to talk about? Okay.

Zerri buruz hitz egingo dut orduan? Ongi da.

I always dreamt that, when I had my final breakdown,

Beti amestu nuen,

nire azken krisia,

it would be because I had a deep Kafkaesque

errebelazioa kafkiar

existentialist revelation,

existentzialista sakona,

eduki nuelako izango zela,

or that maybe Cate Blanchett would play me and she would win an Oscar for it. (Laughter)

edo agian, Cate Blanchett-ek nire papera egin,

eta horregatik Oscar bat irabazi zuelako jasango nuela. (Barreak)

But that's not what happened. I had my breakdown

Baina hori ez da gertatu zena.

Nire krisia,

during my daughter's sports day.

nire alabaren kirol egunean etorri zen.

There were all the parents sitting in a parking lot

Han zeuden guraso guztiak,

aparkaleku batean exerita,

eating food out of the back of their car -- only the English --

autoen atzekaldean hamaiketakoa jaten,

-- Ingelesak bakarrik --

eating their sausages. They loved their sausages. (Laughter)

beraien saltxitxak janez.

Maite dituzte saltxitxak. (Barreak)

Lord eta Lady Rigor Mortis

Lord and Lady Rigor Mortis were nibbling on the tarmac,

errepide bazterrean jaten ari ziren,

pistolak tiro egin,

and then the gun went off and all the girlies started running,

eta neska guztiak korrika hasi ziren,

and all the mummies went, "Run! Run Chlamydia! Run!" (Laughter)

eta ama guztiak garrasika:

Korri! Korri Clamidia! Korri! (Barreak)

"Run like the wind, Veruca! Run!"

Korri, haizeak bezala, Veruca! Korri!

And all the girlies, girlies running, running, running,

Eta neska guztiak korrika zioazen,

nire alaba izan ezik,

everybody except for my daughter, who was just standing

geldirik, irteera lerroan baitzegoen

at the starting line, just waving,

agurtzen,

korri egin behar zuela

because she didn't know she was supposed to run.

ez zekielako.

So I took to my bed for about a month, and when I woke up

Ohean egon nintzen ia hilabetez,

I found I was institutionalized, and when I saw the other inmates,

eta esnatu nintzenean,

ospitaleratuta nengoela konturatu nintzen

eta beste gaixoak ikusi nituenean,

I realized that I had found my people, my tribe. (Laughter)

nire jendea aurkitu nuela konturatu nintzen,

nire tribua. (Barreak)

Because they became my only friends, they became my friends,

Nire lagun bakarrak bihurtu ziren,

nire lagunak bihurtu ziren,

because very few people that I knew -- Well, I wasn't

zeren ezagutzen nituenetatik gutxik; beno,

ez zidaten lore edo txartelik bidaltzen.

sent a lot of cards or flowers. I mean, if I had had a broken leg

Hau da,

or I was with child I would have been inundated,

hanka bat hautsi edo erditu izan banu,

gainezka egongo nintzateke,

but all I got was a couple phone calls telling me to perk up.

baina dei pare bat besterik ez nituen jaso,

alaitzeko esanez.

Perk up.

Alaitu.

Because I didn't think of that. (Laughter)

Zeren, noski, niri ez zitzaidan bururatu. (Barreak)

(Barreak) (Txaloak)

(Laughter) (Applause)

Because, you know, the one thing, one thing that you get with this disease,

Gaixotasun honek zerbait gehiago dakar,

this one comes with a package, is you get a real sense of shame,

zama bat,

lotsa sentsazio izugarria da,

because your friends go, "Oh come on, show me the lump,

zure lagunek diotelako:

"Erakutsi konkorra,

show me the x-rays," and of course you've got nothing to show,

erakutsi erradiografia",

baina noski, ez dago erakusteko ezer.

so you're, like, really disgusted with yourself because you're thinking,

Beraz, oso gaizki sentitzen zara zure buruarekin,

pentsatzen duzulako:

"I'm not being carpet-bombed. I don't live in a township."

"Ez dira ni bonbardatzen ari,

ez naiz herri batean bizi"

So you start to hear these abusive voices, but you don't hear one abusive voice,

Beraz ahots zakar horiek entzuten hasten zara,

baina ez bakarra,

mila entzuten dituzu -- 100,000 ahots zakar,

you hear about a thousand -- 100,000 abusive voices,

like if the Devil had Tourette's, that's what it would sound like.

Deabruak Tourette sindromea edukiko balu bezala, horrela entzungo genuke.

But we all know in here, you know, there is no Devil,

Baina denok dakigu hemen

there are no voices in your head.

deabrua ez dela existitzen,

eta ez dugula ahotsik buruan.

You know that when you have those abusive voices,

Badakizue, ahots zakarrak entzutean,

all those little neurons get together and in that little gap

neurona txiki guzti horiek elkartu

eta espazio txiki hori "neure buruaz beste"

you get a real toxic "I want to kill myself" kind of chemical,

egin nahi dut bezalako sustantzia toxikoz betetzen dela, eta

and if you have that over and over again on a loop tape,

hau behin eta berriz gertatuz gero, grabazio errepikakor bat bezala,

you might have yourself depression.

Oh, and that's not even the tip of the iceberg.

depresioa eduki dezakezula.

Ah, eta hori icebergaren punta besterik ez da.

If you get a little baby, and you abuse it verbally,

Haur bat edukiz gero, eta hitzezko tratu txarrak jasaten baditu,

its little brain sends out chemicals that are so destructive

bere garunak seinale kimiko hain suntsigarriak bidaltzen ditu,

that the little part of its brain that can tell good from bad just doesn't grow,

garunean ongi dagoena eta gaizki dagoena bereizten dituen zatia ez dela garatzen,

so you might have yourself a homegrown psychotic.

beraz etxean egindako psikotiko bat edukiko duzu zerorrek.

If a soldier sees his friend blown up, his brain goes into

Soldadu batek bere laguna lehertzen ikusten badu,

bere garuna halako alarma egoerara doa,

such high alarm that he can't actually put the experience into words,

ezin duela esperientzia hitzez adierazi,

so he just feels the horror over and over again.

beraz, basakeria hori behin eta berriz sentitzen du.

So here's my question. My question is, how come

Hemen doa nire galdera.

Nire galdera da, nolatan esaten dugu

when people have mental damage, it's always an active imagination?

jendeak buruan kaltea duenean, imaginazio hiperaktiboa dela ?

How come every other organ in your body can get sick

Nolatan senti dezakegu enpatia

gorputzeko edozein organotan mina dugunean,

and you get sympathy, except the brain?

I'd like to talk a little bit more about the brain,

garunean izan ezik?

Garunari buruz gehiago hitz egin nahiko nuke,

because I know you like that here at TED,

hemen, TEDen, gustatzen zaizuela baitakit.

so if you just give me a minute here, okay.

Minutu bat ematen badidazue, ongi.

Okay, let me just say, there's some good news.

Ongi, utzidazue esaten, berri onak badaudela.

There is some good news. First of all, let me say,

Hasteko, utzidazue esaten oso, oso

we've come a long, long way.

urrun iritsi garela.

We started off as a teeny, teeny little one-celled amoeba,

Zelula bakarreko ameba txiki bat ginela hasi ginen,

tiny, just sticking onto a rock, and now, voila, the brain.

arroka bati itsatsirik, eta orain, voilá, garuna.

Here we go. (Laughter)

Bagoaz. (Barreak)

This little baby has a lot of horsepower.

Pitxi honek potentzia handia du.

It comes completely conscious. It's got state-of-the-art lobes.

Erabat konsziente dela dator. Merkatuko lobulurik onenak ditu.

We've got the occipital lobe so we can actually see the world.

Lobulu okzipitala dugu, mundua ikusi ahal izateko.

We got the temporal lobe so we can actually hear the world.

Lobulu tenporala dugu, mundua entzun ahal izateko.

Here we've got a little bit of long-term memory,

Hemen, epe luzerako oroimenaren zati bat dugu,

so, you know that night you want to forget, when you got really drunk? Bye-bye! Gone. (Laughter)

beraz, mozkortu zineten eta ahaztu nahi duzuen gau hura? Agur! Ez dago. (Barreak)

So actually, it's filled with 100 billion neurons

100 mila milioi neurona txinpartatsuz beteta dago,

just zizzing away, electrically transmitting information,

informazioa elektrikoki trasmititzen,

zizzing, zizzing. I'm going to give you a little side view here.

txinpartaz beterik.

Alde hau erakutsiko dizuet.

I don't know if you can get that here. (Laughter)

Ez dakit hortik ikusten duzuen. (Barreak)

So, zizzing away, and so — (Laughter) —

Beraz, txinpartaz, ... (Barreak)

Eta bakoitzeko, badakit, neronek marraztu dut. Eskerrik asko.

And for every one — I know, I drew this myself. Thank you.

For every one single neuron, you can actually have

Neurona bakoitzeko,

10 000tik eta 100 000ra

from 10,000 to 100,000 different connections

or dendrites or whatever you want to call it, and every time

konexio edo dendrita dituzte,

you learn something, or you have an experience,

eta zerbait ikasten duzun bakoitzean,

edo bizitzen duzunean,

that bush grows, you know, that bush of information.

sare hori hazi egiten da,

Can you imagine, every human being is carrying

badakizue, informazio sarea.

Imaginatu dezakezue, pertsona bakoitzak

that equipment, even Paris Hilton? (Laughter)

ahalmen hori daramala

baita Paris Hiltonek ere? (Barreak)

Go figure.

Imaginatu.

But I got a little bad news for you folks. I got some bad news.

Baina berri txar gutxi batzuk ditut. Berri txarrak.

This isn't for the one in four. This is for the four in four.

Hau ez da lautik batentzat.

Hau lautik laurentzat da.

We are not equipped for the 21st century.

Ez gaude XXI. menderako prest.

Evolution did not prepare us for this. We just don't have the bandwidth,

Eboluzioak ez gintuen honetarako prestatu.

Ez dugu banda zabalera nahikoa,

and for people who say, oh, they're having a nice day,

eta egun ona pasatzen ari direla diotenak,

they're perfectly fine, they're more insane than the rest of us.

ongi daudela diotenak,

gutako edozein baino eroago daude.

Because I'll show you where there might be a few glitches

Eboluzioaren akatsak non egon

in evolution. Okay, let me just explain this to you.

daitezkeen erakutsiko dizuet.

When we were ancient man — (Laughter) —

Gizaki primitiboak ginenean, (barreak),

millions of years ago, and we suddenly felt threatened

orain dela milioika urte,

bat-batean harrapakari batengatik

by a predator, okay? — (Laughter) —

mehatxatuak sentitzen ginenean, bai...? (Barreak)

Gu, eskerrik asko, neronek marraztu dut. (Barreak)

we would — Thank you. I drew these myself. (Laughter)

Eskerrik asko. Eskerrik asko. (Txaloak)

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause)

Thank you. Anyway, we would fill up with our own adrenaline

Eskerrik asko. Laburbilduz, gure berezko adrenalinaz,

berezko kortisolaz betetzen ginen,

and our own cortisol, and then we'd kill or be killed,

eta hil egiten genuen edo hil egiten gintuzten,

we'd eat or we'd be eaten, and then suddenly we'd de-fuel,

jan egiten genituen, edo jan egiten gintuzten, eta

and we'd go back to normal. Okay.

So the problem is, nowadays, with modern man— (Laughter) —

deskargatu egiten ginen, normaltasunera itzuliz.

Arazoa da, gaur egun, gizaki modernoarekin, ... (Barreak)

when we feel in danger, we still fill up with our own chemical

Arriskua sentitzen dugunean,

oraindik sustantziez betetzen garela,

but because we can't kill traffic wardens — (Laughter) —

baina trafiko udaltzaina ezin dugunez hil, (barreak)

or eat estate agents, the fuel just stays in our body

funtzionarioa ezin dugunez jan,

erregaia gorputzean geratzen da,

over and over, so we're in a constant state of alarm,

behin betiko, eta etengabeko alerta egoeran gaude.

a constant state. And here's another thing that happened.

About 150,000 years ago, when language came online,

Orain dela 150 000 urte, hizkuntza agertu zenean,

we started to put words to this constant emergency,

alarma egoera horri hitzak jartzen hasi ginen,

so it wasn't just, "Oh my God, there's a saber-toothed tiger,"

"Ene bada, tigre bat", baina

which could be, it was suddenly, "Oh my God, I didn't send the email. Oh my God, my thighs are too fat.

"Oh, ene bada, ez nuen email hori bidali.

Ene bada, nire izterrak handiegiak dira

Oh my God, everybody can see I'm stupid. I didn't get invited to the Christmas party!"

Oh, ene bada, denok dakite leloa naizela.

Ez naute Gabon festara gonbidatu!"

So you've got this nagging loop tape that goes

Behin eta berriz entzuten dugun grabazio hau dugu,

over and over again that drives you insane, so,

eta erotu egiten gaitu, orduan

you see what the problem is? What once made you safe

ikusten duzue arazoa?

Behin onik mantendu gintuenak,

now drives you insane.

orain erotu egiten gaitu.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but somebody has to be.

Sentitzen dut berri txar hau ematearen arduraduna izatea,

Your pets are happier than you are. (Laughter)

baina norbaitek egin behar zuen.

Zuen abereak, zuek baino zoriontsuagoak dira. (Barreak)

(Txaloak)

(Applause)

So kitty cat, meow, happy happy happy, human beings, screwed. (Laughter)

Beraz, katutxoak miau, pozik, pozik

gizakiak, izorratuta.

Completely and utterly -- so, screwed.

Izorratuta.

But my point is, if we don't talk about this stuff,

Baina esan nahi dut,

and we don't learn how to deal with our lives, it's not going

gauza hauetaz hitz egiten hasten

ez bagara

to be one in four. It's going to be four in four

eta ez badugu gure bizitza aurrera ateratzen ikasten,

ez dira lautik bat izango, lautik lau baizik.

who are really, really going to get ill in the upstairs department.

Lautik lau gaixotuko dira goiko solairutik.

And while we're at it, can we please stop the stigma?

Eta horretan gaudela,

baztertu dezakegu mesedez estigma?

Thank you. (Applause)

Eskerrik asko. (Txaloak)

(Txaloak) Eskerrik asko.

(Applause) Thank you.