Sansar Comedian Brody Stevens Has Died In an Apparent Suicide

This is tragic news. A comedian who appeared as part of last week’s episode of the Comedy Gladiators stand-up comedy series in Sansar has been found dead. Police are treating the case as a suicide.

Brody Stevens, a Los Angeles-based stand-up comedian, who had been very open about his issues with depression in the past, had confided in friends recently that he had taken himself off his medications because he felt they “dulled” his creativity as a comic. The news report from The Blast also says:

After hearing of his passing, comedian Patton Oswalt said, “If you are depressed or feeling suicidal please please please please please reach out to ANYONE. I never get to see Brody Stevens again I can’t stand this.”

Fellow comedian Steve Hofstetter, who hosted the show in Sansar, posted a series of tweets about his friend:

I had this VR show we were doing live from my house. It was the second time we’d ever done it, but after a few comedians asked me about how it works, I invited everyone over to hang before the next show. Brody was one of the first people to tell me he was coming…

Brody somehow figured out that if you sat down in real life and pushed forward on the hand control[lers], your avatar runs around on its butt. It was hilarious. And he did that of the next two minutes, just crushing with how goofy it looked.

As somebody who has dealt with chronic clinical depression in his own life, and who has sometimes had to fight back against thoughts of suicide, this is heartbreaking. As Patton Oswalt says, you need to seek help if you are suffering. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. It is not a solution.

I’m going to repeat a list of resources from an earlier blogpost (a rant about BetterHelp.com):

If you are currently experiencing a mental health or addictions related crisis:

• If you are suicidal, please read this first.
• Contact your doctor
• Go to the nearest hospital
• Find a local crisis line: check the Emergency listings in your phone book. or look here: https://suicideprevention.ca/need-help/ (Canada) or here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines (International)
• Find a mobile crisis team (check the Emergency listings in your phone book)
• Call 911 (or your local equivalent emergency number)

If you are not in crisis, but still need help, here are some other good places to get started:

• Mental Health Care in Canada: Where to Find Help (CTV News, Canada)
• General Resources (Mental Health First Aid Canada, by the Mental Health Commission of Canada)
• MentalHealth.gov (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, United States)
• Find Support (National Alliance on Mental Illness, United States)
• Mental Health and Psychology Sources Online (PsychCentral)
• Global Mental Health Resources (by CheckPoint, an Australia-based charity that connects mental health resources with video games and technology)
• 9 Ways to Get Free or Cheap Therapy When You Don’t Have Health Insurance (this list by The Penny Hoarder is intended for Americans who lack health insurance)

When you absolutely need someone to talk to online, one of the best places to try is The KindVoice subReddit and Discord channel, both of which are staffed by volunteers:

“Sometimes we need to hear a human voice on the other end of the line telling us that everything’s going to be ok. This subreddit is for people that aren’t in a suicidal crisis, but feel depressed, alone, or want someone to talk to.”

A similar service is called The Haven, another Discord channel for people who need someone to talk to. Both Kind Voice and The Haven are free, volunteer-run services.

Whatever you do, don’t give up. NEVER. Give. Up! There is always hope, even when things look their bleakest.

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