The Double Standard of Depression: Brothers in Arms TV EP4

In this episode of Brothers in Arms, Edgar, Eric, and Dr. Dan continue to build ways to talk to each other and to show men — and women, too! — how we can talk to each other. Edgar and Eric ask Dr. Dan questions about how to approach conversation with people to get them to open up and share, even when they are reticent to do so initially. Dr. Dan shares that the key is not in what you say, but in the listening that we do, both actively with the other person and in interpreting whether or not they mean it when they say they are fine.

The dynamic trio then move into Old News (Maybe From Yesterday), where they discuss Simone Biles’ withdrawing from the Olympics and compare her stance on mental health to some other recent athletes and comedians of the past. Dan Prescott, Kevin Love, Dave Chappell, and Robin Williams all are discussed, but the discussion was perhaps most poignant around Robin Williams, as Eric considered what might have happened if the famed comedian had felt more comfortable talking openly about the part of himself that was suffering so much.

In Walking the Walk, Dr. Dan takes another turn, this time all to himself, and talked about the birth of his first daughter and how it crystallized a sense in him that he had really always been alone before then, having now felt the primacy of his role with his daughter. Edgar and Eric are connected, encouraging, and helpful in validating Dr. Dan’s suffering in this regard and the three note together how it changed his life and helped him evaluate the people with whom he could now build the closest bonds.