Theo Von Is Going Through It

Last weekend, Theo Von had a rough night during the taping of his Netflix special. He bombed, and afterward said something along the lines of how he was just trying not to take his own life.

Yesterday, Von returned to his podcast to explain what happened. About a month ago, he began weaning himself off antidepressants ahead of the special because he wanted “to have a little more emotion during it. I wanted to have this kind of like - I just wanted to have some more feelings. If you’ve ever taken antidepressants, or if you haven’t, it kind of takes away your feelings, you know? So you just kind of stay in this space where you’re okay.”

That tracks. SSRIs can have a dulling effect (which is often the point for people dealing with overwhelming emotions), and they are notoriously difficult to wean off. The timing turned out to be especially bad for Von because DHS involuntarily pulled him into a situation when they used him, without permission, in an ICE recruiting video that was viewed more than 25 million times.

While I’ve seen some of Von’s stand-up (not a fan), I’m not that familiar with his podcast. I knew he hosted the President and Vice President ahead of the election, but I didn’t realize he also hosted Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna. And for what it’s worth, he really didn’t appreciate DHS using him as a recruiting tool.

“I didn’t have anything to do with this sh**, nobody asked me about it,” he said. “It was just f**ked up … I have a lot of different thoughts about immigration. Why is the government even making these? I don’t know, but that’s where we’re at in the world.”

As the son of a Nicaraguan immigrant, Von said the DHS video worsened his mental state, especially on top of weaning off antidepressants. He’s also not a fan of the government’s direction.

“I think they’re doing a lot of bookkeeping in the country right now because we’re going to get into a surveillance state and everyone is going to have to be on the books, right? So that’s where I believe we’re headed.”

The backlash to the DHS video, combined with political unrest — the government even offered him a security detail, which only made him paranoid and “really shook me” — all contributed to the unsettled state he was in during the taping. “Sometimes, you really just don’t know how much pressure you’re under.” He said he felt a little manic, like when you get too high and have to pretend to be yourself (relatable), and he couldn’t remember things.

But he assured listeners he is not suicidal. “You know that if you’ve listened to this show before or seen anything, you know: I say stuff. I would never take my own life. I would never take my own life.”

This probably doesn’t need to be said, but because my wife has had to say it to me, I’m going to say it anyway: Don’t try to wean yourself off any medication without consulting a medical professional. I don’t know Von well, and I clearly do not align with him politically, but watching that episode of his podcast, he’s clearly a guy who’s going through it right now.

Source: This Past Weekend via Cracked