Ask ten of your friends to join you on stage to do improv comedy, and see how many of them say yes. Now, imagine someone suffering from anxiety or depression and ask them the same question—probably a slim chance of getting a yes out of anyone in your entire friend group.

But, those who are grappling with anxiety or depression in Chicago should seriously consider joining the program Improv for Anxiety.

Freethink.com documented the adventure of Stephanie Azzaline and other students who signed up for the 8-week course—a mixture of group therapy sessions (led by two licensed clinicians with improv experience) and actual improv training and performances led by instructors at one of the world's premier comedy clubs, Second City.

The idea, which came to life at Second City a couple years ago, was to create a support network, which would then help bolster the confidence of members, both teens and college students, stuck in anxiety's grasp. And a scientific study showed it to be a potentially a great idea.

After a short-term clinical study involving 32 patients, researchers in Illinois concluded that intervention using improvisational comedy exercises may provide a strong and efficient treatment for patients with anxiety and depression.

Improv for Anxiety course methods include all of the classic games that made Whose Line is it Anyway famous, like ‘scenes from a hat,' and ‘hoedown'.

The students found the assurance that everyone in the class was already seeking to remedy their anxiety encouraging, and it was an important part of getting them comfortable enough to perform.

"People with anxiety a lot of times are either thinking about the past, or they're thinking about the future," Megan Hastings, an improv student told Freethink. "But they're normally not in the present."

Improv forces those in the class to stay rooted in the present as they try and come up with ideas, rhymes, jokes, and more. There are no pauses in improv rounds, so if you make a mistake, the only way to fix it is to move forward and try to nail the next bit.

For instance, one of the games from Whose Line is it Anyway that Improv for Anxiety regularly uses is an exercise where they all take turns adding one word onto an ongoing sentence to try and make the funniest story.

Many of the students and participants said their anxiety had abated, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, after taking the course. One participant managed to navigate a potential breakup without breaking up, and added that her day-to-day life was 30% easier.

The support network continues even after their eight weeks has ended, as participants share their highs and lows in a group text—undoubtedly with jokes thrown in as often as possible.

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