Ruby Wax Makes Peace With Her Family’s Issues

Ruby wax learns of the multiple connections in her family with mental health and finally has a understanding of what her mother and farther went through
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Ruby Wax's parents fled Vienna for America in 1938. 'They took the war with them and brought it to our kitchen,' says the comedian and mental-health campaigner at the start of this remarkable episode. They raised their only daughter in a dramatically dysfunctional household - Ruby's father was volatile and her mother 'hysterical... screaming in the street.' Ruby wonders if her own mental illness had its origins in her upbringing and the trauma her parents went through, or whether it is in her family's genes.
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Actor, comedian and mental health campaigner Ruby Wax traced the tragic roots of her family's history of mental illness in the Holocaust
In the 1990s, comedian and actor Ruby Wax found a new role. Following a diagnosis of depression, she trained in cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness, and has since worked tirelessly to promote better understanding of mental health issues.
“I think I have lived most of my life in a high anxiety state and so I want to know where that came from,” she says. “And I keep blaming my parents. It would be interesting to know who they’re blaming.”
It’s a story centred on Austria because, although Ruby was raised in Chicago, her parents, Edmund Wachs and Berta Goldmann, were Jewish émigrés who fled the Nazis before the start of the Second World War. “They took the war with them and brought it to our table,” says Ruby.
It’s a remark that reflects a dysfunctional childhood. Her mother had a condition dubbed “hysteria”, while her father was volatile - “a ‘torturer’” in Ruby’s mother’s estimation.
Neither talked much about the past, but Berta left a suitcase full of photographs, documents and letters that, with limited German, Ruby is unable to read. These mementoes prove crucial to Ruby reaching a new understanding of her parents and her wider family.

[@stephanieyee9784]

My maternal grandmother spent 61 years of her life in an asylum. She had 5 young children including a newborn baby. The tragedy of her confinement still echoes today.

[@wendykelly8551]

Oh my days so sad..... not helping being away from her children.... xx

[@judithdevitt6022]

my grandmother had the same life ,3 young children aged 26 on admission died at the age of 78... my father was 25 months old, so sad that treatment was not available 🙏😥

[@janefitzgibbon4312]

So tragic. But I don’t think she is alone. If we only knew ❤

[@kathrynsymonds9455]

So sad, gives me sad shivers, sending Ruby and family more hugs xx

[@shawnblackhawk6718]

If @RubyWax sees this, Love & Light, my friend. Love & Light!

[@janetslicer3637]

Still I wish there were more answers for her. I would wish to know more. Still heartbreaking to me.

[@travellersnestoverland]

Any more on Ruby wax family history? I have found this one so interesting

[@dallasfamily3]

So sad and tragic. Glad their stories were told.

[@ferrisulf]

I was a bit taken aback where she's talking about how soothing it felt to be there. Unfortunately, that was not the atmosphere back when her family members were there.

[@fredrika27]

OMG, I'm eyeing her great-grand father because he is certainly sus! Here is a man who had both his wife and daughter committed. Why would the wife have a nervous breakdown or be agitated? Such behavior doesn't come out of the blue. Now, if you knew your wife was committed, would you not look after your child better and would you tolerate such a story ran in the local newspapers? Or was making money and hiding secrets more important? Imagine poor Gabrielle being separated from her mum at six years old. Would that incident in itself be traumatizing? Then Ruby's mother also had mental illness, but due to seeing so much destroyed around her!

[@Tawadeb]

Love and light Ruby

[@46reno]

Those unfortunate people today would have likely been given some help. Back then methods were very crude.

[@sarahpiaggio2693]

Today it's done mostly by medication, which is also hit and miss. We still know much less than we like to admit about mental illness.

[@RichieRich1234RICH]

This must have been really difficult for Ruby Wax given her own history of mental illness. There’s often a genetic predisposition. We love that she’s been this zany character but it’s taken its toll on her. She’s always trying to see the funny side. Thank goodness she lives in times where she could get different treatment.

[@Susan.I]

How sad…