CLAIRE Vida is an actress who is funny and great company.

And right now she is managing to hold down a holding pattern job in a call centre, until inroads can be made into an acting career.

Yet, while actors are generally buoyant, extroverted creatures, for most of the time, the opposite is true of the young lady from Rutherglen.

“I’ve never thought about ending my life,” says the 21 year-old in upbeat voice which contrasts dramatically with her state of mind. “But I don’t go out anymore. I don’t go clubbing, I don’t do the party scene. I just don’t want to go out the front door.

“I’m not a total recluse; I can talk to you here, now, in this coffee shop, but otherwise, for the past six months I’ve just given up.

“And it’s not that I’ve always been like this. I’ve always had good friends and things were always good but then this dark cloud began looming over me.”

For the first time in months however the dark clouds have begun to break up.

The change came about when Claire was encouraged to join WitsHerFace, an all new all-female comedy collective.

Since joining the group, which is performing for the Glasgow Comedy Festival, the actress has found a whole new clutch of inspirational friends, working with actresses and writers such as Karen Dunbar, Alison Peebles, Maureen Carr, Claire Hemphill and Kate Donnelly.

Claire loves her new world but first, she attempts to explain why her mind shut down to the idea of hope in the first place.

“I’ve had such a good upbringing, a very good education, which I loved,” she says, in cheery voice.

“So what’s wrong with me? Why can’t I get out of this dark place? Well, I think I sort of understand what’s been happening.

“I loved studying, you see. I loved the process, the learning. I went from school to college and then to university, (the Uni of West of Scotland, where she studied Contemporary Screen Acting and achieved a 2:1 Honours Degree).

“However, in the process of studying continually I’ve been institutionalised.”

Claire’s life had been set out for her. She went along with the notion if you study hard you reap the reward. But do you?

“When the study stops, what do you do?

“You think being twenty-one you’re ready to face life and all its challenges but you’re not. Then to graduate and face nothing . . . well, I just couldn’t handle that.”

Claire sensed the foreboding building up before she graduated.

“I didn’t understand what was going on in my head at the time, but there was definitely a sense of things not being quite right with me. “I’d be asking ‘What’s wrong with me? Why am I not ticking boxes other people seem to be ticking.”

What were those boxes?

“The boxes which demand you do well in education, then when you leave education you enjoy a personal relationship, with someone you can bounce things off. From there, you go into a job you love doing, which pays well, you have an amazing social life, and live happily.”

These expectations had been conditioned into her.

“When you’re younger you look at all these generic beautiful women in the media, all these icons who have done so well and you think ‘Why am I not like that?’ It’s a young girl thing, but unfortunately, I never seemed to grow out of that.

“And social media doesn’t help. It makes the screen bigger. We get to see where we can’t reach. Yet, we’re so dependent upon it. It can be such an awesome tool.”

What’s clear during conversation is that every emotion in the brunette head is heightened. Every thought turned over and over many times.

It’s not surprising that when she leaves work for the day Claire simply wants to go home and pull up the drawbridge.

But not on Wednesdays. That’s when she attends WitsHerFace. The light in Claire’s life emerged she met a young man, Chris, who encouraged her to leave the house, to work, to perform.

Meantime, she met with acting lecturer Martin McCardie. Married to actress Maureen Carr, he told Claire of his wife’s involvement with the comedy collective. And it’s been a godsend.

“At first I just sat and listened and enjoyed what others were doing and then I gradually joined in. And it’s great getting to know the others, the encouragement you get.”

Claire, who always wanted to act since she was a schoolgirl at Stonelaw High School, gained a sense of endorsement, a shared experience. But also the realisation these women have mortgages and a big shop to do at the weekend just like everybody else.

“You get caught up in the illusion whereby you think every famous woman is this perfect card-board cut out. And success just arrives.

“In fact, I grew up watching Karen Dunbar on television and she seemed so perfect. But now that I’ve come to know her I can see the reality. And now I’ve met this pool of women I can see that nothing is immediate. You have to go through a process.”

However, Claire hasn’t been totally cured by group love and a chance to perform sketches on stage.

“I was able to go and get this new job, working for a bank call centre. But I’m not right yet. There’s a puzzle piece missing.

“I talk about it every week with an analyst but I still haven’t worked it all out yet. It’s not just about structure and expectations in life.”

Actors often go into the business to hide away from reality. They want to become different people. Is this the case with Claire?

She pauses and deliberates. “No, I don’t think it is. I’m happy to be me. I’d just like to be a happier version of me.

“But thanks to the WitsHerFace experience I’ve realised we all need something to look forward to in life, a reason to get out of bed in the morning, whatever it is.

“And the idea of getting up there on stage is doing that for me at the moment.”

*WitsHerFace, St Luke’s Church, the Calton, Glasgow, March 11 and 12.