Joke · Ajahn Brahm
Depression privileges — a third bowl of ice cream
Content note: mental health humour
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
You got very many privileges being depressed." And I remember this because he told me afterwards, "Yes, so true. You know, this morning I had two bowls of ice cream. My wife would never let me have two bowls of ice cream when I was okay. But now she thinks I'm depressed. Oh, you have a third bowl
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 1:05:21 (to 1:05:43)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
A man recovering from depression joked that while his wife thought he was still low, he got two bowls of ice cream, maybe three. Ajahn Brahm's point: don't be depressed about being depressed; moods come and go. Fearing it will get worse adds weight. Keep getting proper support, and trust that low times pass.
In brief (our summary)
He tells a depressed man not to advertise recovery too soon — wife and boss will put him back to work. The man later reports: when depressed he got two bowls of ice cream; if he were 'okay' she would never allow a third.
Teaching point
(Dark humour about secondary gains of illness — use carefully.)
When this story may help
Themes
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in Getting Along with Difficult Family Members | Ajahn Brahm | 18 June 2021 · 2021-06-18 · ▶ watch from 1:05:21 to 1:05:43 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia
1 other telling of this story
- Content and Easily Satisfied - Armadale Meditation Group | Ajahn Brahm | 21 December 2021 · 2021-12-23 · ▶ watch from 1:12:42 to 1:13:14 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaArmadale hospital: depressed man ice-cream breakfast perk; don't tell wife when better.
Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions: unpunctuated, words left exactly as captioned.
The narrative is Ajahn Brahm's own telling, quoted from the talk captions. The summary and reflection are Being Mindful Stories's editorial notes. Please credit the teacher and link the original talk. Markdown version