Taika Waititi

Have you yourself or anyone you know experienced depression?

Yes, and yes. I’ve definitely known people who have experienced depression, friends and acquaintances. Sometimes you can’t even tell, people do so much to mask it and hide it from the outside world, which then often manifests itself in other ways. The more you try and hide depression, the more it will find a way out; it’ll come out in other ways, mostly negative. I’ve been lucky enough to not have depression really take a hold of me for long periods.

I think that every person experiences it, in some way, at some point. It unifies us as human beings; in order for us to experience true happiness, you go through the low points as well. The one conclusion I came to is that it’s a normal part of life. It isn’t about finding a way to prevent it or to cure it, it’s more about finding a way to deal with it – not necessarily very strong cases of depression, but just sadness or silence or those times where you feel introspective and you just want to be alone. Those moments are really important for us as human beings. Without evil we can’t have good, without sadness we can’t know what happiness is. If you’re ever truly happy and you find those really ecstatic moments in your life, usually it’s because you’ve experienced really sad moments at some point as well. So there’s a counterbalance.

That’s what life is really, it’s about finding a balance, you need all those things. Just as we need summer, we also need winter. People celebrate summer so much in New Zealand because we have to go through these really harsh winters. That’s how I often feel about depression, if you can step back and say “Okay, I just need a bit of time by myself, I can talk about it, or just sit with it for a bit.”.

I think one of the hardest parts with depression is the shame that people associate with it. “I can’t get out of bed, people are going to think I’m a loser, wallowing in my own self-pity.” And when you start to analyze it, that’s when it gets even worse. It’s more about accepting that it’s a normal part of human life, and I think it is. You could call it other things, such as ‘time of self-reflection’.

A lot of people that take their own lives feel like they have failed in fulfilling their role in society, and that’s really sad we need to feel that way, that we need to fit in. There are so many different people in the world, why do we need to fit in?

If you knew anyone battling with depression, how would you support them, or what would you tell them to do?

I know there are a few things you should and shouldn’t say around people who have depression – I’ve started reading about it and educating myself more and more. Obviously you can’t say “Oh you’re dumb for feeling suicidal”, or “Get over it”. That’s not the way you should handle it. I think the main thing is to make sure they know there are people who care and that you’re there if they want to talk.

Often it doesn’t help to try and make someone talk. If people want to talk things through, they will when they feel the time is right. There are no real answers and I think everyone is different in the way they process and handle depression.

If you’re having a low point in your life, what helps you overcome it and get back into the world?

One thing that I think is really good for me, personally, is exercise. I think that team sports are great. I play a lot of touch rugby when I can. I feel like being around people and throwing a ball around, laughing, jumping, getting the body moving and being outside, is a really important thing. I do feel like people spend too much time inside, in front of computers. Even social media can be responsible for a lot of depression, especially cyber bullying. But the fact that we spend so much time inside looking at a screen, our bodies are probably depleted of vitamins, we need to be out in the elements.

Growing up in Wellington I would go on walks down the South Coast, around Red Rocks and Lyall Bay. The wind and all the crazy elements around there makes you feel tiny and insignificant and often puts things in perspective. You get blown around and you’re no different to a piece of seaweed or a bird that’s just trying to stay aflight. That’s cool, it blows the cobwebs out.

You can talk it through, or you can walk it through. I know that a lot of people with really bad depression can’t even get out of bed, but if you can do it and get out there you will be so much better off. That for me helps the best. But everyone is different with how they handle things.

Any advice for someone that wants to follow your footsteps and enter the film industry?

The real advice is just to do it. Just start and see where it takes you. It was never really my dream to be a director. I didn’t go to film school or anything. All the experience I got was from watching films and deciding what I wanted to do. I’m very much self-taught and I feel like there is nothing wrong with that – I don’t feel like you need to go to an institution to learn things, just go to a library or learn things online. There is so much information out there. Just get out and start.