Live Webchat with Ruby Wax - Thursday 12th May 1.30 - 2.30 pm

[RachelMumsnet]

We're delighted that Ruby Wax is joining us for a live webchat on Thursday 12th May between 1.30-2.30pm. Ruby's theatre show Losing It is currently running at Menier Chocolate Factory in London. In the show Ruby explores the ups and downs of mental illness and draws on her own experience of depression to create a show which is described as 'incredibly brave and heartbreakingly funny' (Harry Enfield). The theatre show ends with a Q&A session which gives members of the audience a chance to share their own experiences and there are weekly Forums with leading mental health experts. Ruby is a trained psychotherapist and is currently studying for a MSt in Mindfulness at Oxford University. Along with Stephen Fry, she is an ambassador for the campaign, Time To Change which was launched to coincide with a survey that found one in three people admitted they would find it hard to tell others if they had mental health problems.

Ruby moved the UK to study drama in Glasgow and worked as an actress before she turned to comedy. She has appeared on numerous TV shows including her own chat shows; 'The Full Wax' and 'Ruby Wax Presents' (remember Imelda Marcos' shoes?) She was also Script Editor for Ab Fab and is a big supporter of Comic Relief having taken part in Celebrity Fame Academy, Comic Relief does the Apprentice and Masterchef at Number 10, where earlier this year the PM enjoyed her crab salad) She also runs her own Leadership consultancy and Coaching company, Ruby Wax.

Join us on Thursday at 1pm or send a question in advance to Ruby and you'll be entered into a draw to win a pair of tickets to see 'Losing It' between now and 18th June.

i just wanted to say that i am a huge fan, tbh. growing up in the eighties, it was AMAZING to watch you be simultaneously honest, funny, stupid and searingly intelligent AND BOSSY on television. quite revolutionary, really, it was a real eye-opener as to how women could behave on television.

how is your beautiful best friend from school, the one who was in the documentary with you? she seemed like such a fantastic woman too.

omg and the woman with the beehive from your dad's office?! and the weiner van, and that opening shot where it became apparent that your house was tiny by comparison to the newer ones.

i loved that documentary, you know. i think it was a formative experience in my life. so touching, so funny, so brutal. i wish they would show it/them (there were two?) again.

Ruby - you rock!

My question: why do you rock so much? Is it because you were born with nice cheek bones?

You're inspiring and daft as a brush. I liketh.

oh, and also... why did you hate Glasgow so much?

Ruby is in the house - and as there are so many questions, I'm going to hand over straight away. We'll be announcing the winner of the tickets to Losing It at the end

Enjoy!

Welcome to the vipers' nest Mumsnet, Ruby?

With apologies for the stray question mark.

Ruby - another question for you , even though I asked one earlier. Which comedy acts do you like currently?

cheers!

Hello I am here never having done this in my life a virgin a technophob and I can't spell so be kind. Also just to say please come to the Menier Chocolate Factory may 15-June 19th to see my brilliant show Losing It. Also on all thursdays we have a walk in forum from 2-4 if you have any sort of mental problem or are a carer we have free advise on where to go and amazing speakers who are experts in the field and I'll be there representing a person with depression but also I am incredibly funny so here we go ask anything.

My husband named our daughter after you because he thought you were full of character x

Ruby! I just wanted to say that I first saw you being bloody funny when I was a young teen and you completely inspired me. You rock and I'm still a huge fan!

My question: there's a shortage of comediennes (gah, spelling...) in the world. Whats your opinion on other women in comedy--who makes you laugh?

@SmethwickBelle

I loved your autobiography, I read it until the covers fell off! Honest autobiographies are rare. Honest writing is rare! So thanks for that and I like other posters wondered if you were writing or planning to write further books, whether relating to your involvement in mental health or fiction - or something else entirely?

It takes so long and you get so lonely just talking to yourself in a room but I am going to write another book. I'm going to Oxford university now studying how the mind works so I'm going to write a funny as in Bill Bryson version of how you work and what to do with your life a guided tour of your mind. I'm thinking of calling it Existence the pros and cons.

Hi Ruby [smile

Just wondering, what's your favourite biscuit?

@PrettyCandles

Dear Ruby: Fruit Shoots, sausage rolls, and loose grapes - opinions please?

Oh, and fave biscuit, of course!

(Referring to our ageing bodies, you once said something along the lines of "when I lie down my boobs flee for refuge in my armpits". So true And I think the key to mental equilibrium regarding ageing, ie to not being depressed by it, is to (a) still find said boobs attractive no matter their location, and (b) to be able to laugh at the voyaging bosom.)

Oreo?s are the greatest invention in the 20th century. To scoop the cream out and then eat the biscuit is my idea of paradise.

Re: ageing bodies - I never said this but whoever did I agree with them. I have never laughed at a voyaging bosom though. I just pretend I don?t see them that way avoiding any emotional pain.

@mousymouse

Dear Ruby,
brave off you to come on here :)
I find you incredibly funny, especially seeing you on the apprentice after show last year had me in stiches.
my question, I have cared for (well only a little to give my mother respite) my grandmother who had various mental health issues as well as beeing very disabled. I found it incredibly hard, don*t know how my mother could cope with it at all.
what would you advise relatives, carers to do to cope with the verbal/physical abuse that sometimes is part of caring for mentally ill people?

Meet with other people in the same position. To be able to talk about the issues with people who understand make you feel you are not alone and that is almost half the cure.

I had a baby when I had severe depression and she is now 17 and is the happiest person in the world so happy I'm frightened she might be taking drugs. If you give her unconditional love and try not to be anxious around her she will thrive. The depression passes when the baby picks up your mental distress. No I don't think it ever goes away but the traces of it get fainter and fainter -like a scar but it never goes. Good luck with the birth there's nothing like real pain to make you forget you're depressedxx

@birchykel

Hello Ruby,
I Have depression, have done for years and have now accepted it as part of my life. I Personally don't think ill ever be 'cured' but just learn to deal with it. I Don't know if that's the case with all depression sufferers and wondered what your view on it is?

I need regular counselling at least once a month to live with my depression. I Am scared stiff as I am due my second baby in 6 weeks and wonder what effect this will have on me.

anyway love your work, keep smiling.

Xx

Sorry this was in answer to your question birchykel

I had a baby when I had severe depression and she is now 17 and is the happiest person in the world so happy I'm frightened she might be taking drugs. If you give her unconditional love and try not to be anxious around her she will thrive. The depression passes when the baby picks up your mental distress. No I don't think it ever goes away but the traces of it get fainter and fainter -like a scar but it never goes. Good luck with the birth there's nothing like real pain to make you forget you're depressedxx

the show is about the fact none of us get a manual as to how to live our lives. i say even domestic appliances have instruction manuals not us. i have done this show for over 2 years and the audience in the second half not only open up but talk to each other for advise and the relief they feel from finally being able to talk openly is incredible. This is why we're going to have a free walk in forum on thursdays from 2-4 with experts on hand because so many people say they don't know where to go and who to talk to there's such a stigma. I agreee and so we are going to start centres later on. The show is hilarious by the way but it has a message and you won't feel so alone by the end of it. we are playing in edinburgh for 4 weeks in august so clearly the Brits do want to hear about the dark side but also laugh.

Hi Ruby

I was just wondering why you decided to go into Psychotherapy? Was it due to your own experiences of depression or was it something you'd always had an interest in?

@domesticslattern

Dear Ruby
Sorry that I'll miss you tomorrow as I'll be at work, and wanted to ask about your show. Can you tell us more about the show and what kind of responses you are getting from the audience? I can imagine that it would be difficult to get us repressed Brits to open up- the complete opposite of what we normally do when it comes to mental health.... I'm really intrigued by it. Do some people just get freaked out by the whole thing and run away?

Sorry this was for you domesticslattern - think we've got it right now...

the show is about the fact none of us get a manual as to how to live our lives. i say even domestic appliances have instruction manuals not us. i have done this show for over 2 years and the audience in the second half not only open up but talk to each other for advise and the relief they feel from finally being able to talk openly is incredible. This is why we're going to have a free walk in forum on thursdays from 2-4 with experts on hand because so many people say they don't know where to go and who to talk to there's such a stigma. I agreee and so we are going to start centres later on. The show is hilarious by the way but it has a message and you won't feel so alone by the end of it. we are playing in edinburgh for 4 weeks in august so clearly the Brits do want to hear about the dark side but also laugh.

@ristretto

Hello, I've been wondering

which came first,
the psychotherapy training or the depression?

did the depression lead to an interest in mental health and hence the training as a psychotherapist?

what do you like about the job?

I didn't know I had depression as a kid we always thought it was glandular fever or Epstein Bar I used to call it Epstein bar and grill. Anyway I knew something was wrong because I my personality was gone and left a grey concrete block of cement with scrambled thoughts. So yes I did want to learn how the brain works so I could fix mine like a car repairman.

@donnie

Hi Ruby,

I am a huge fan of yours and I think you are such a great role model for girls. My question is to you as a parent: how do you try and prepare your kids for adult life ? and are your kids interested in being 'slebs' and all that? if so, how do you address that?

thanks

They are smart enough to understand celebs have a very short life span and there if you?re famous for the sake of being famous with no skill it?s a terrible life. Your conversation is limited to you and you and you. To develop your brain is the greatest thing you can do becauseyou can get as old and as fat as you want and it will never leave you..