Category Archives: depression

An artist’s representation of their mental illness

Performance artist Bobby Baker kept a diary of drawings charting her struggles and eventual recovery from cancer and depression. The Guardian has a slideshow, with voiceover by Bobby Baker herself, showing some of the drawings. It’s well worth a look.

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Video of a challenging interview

A few years back colleagues at Newcastle General Hospital put together some teaching materials around interview skills. This video shows an interview of a man with depression who, due to his level of irritability, is somewhat difficult to engage with … Continue reading

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The impact of mental illness

We tend to forget about families. In times of crisis it’s necessarily the patient who comes first. We are probably good about thinking of the carers, this quite correctly has been a focus for services for some time, but what … Continue reading

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Personal stigma

When we think of depression it is usually in the context of the negative views held by people, specifically other people, about mental illness. Yet perhaps one of the most corrosive forms of depression can be seen when our own … Continue reading

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Manufacturing depression

In an article published in The Observer on Sunday Gary Greenberg is interviewed following publication of his new book “Manufacturing Depression”. In his book Greenberg discusses his history of depressive symptomatology and calls into question the wholesale prescription of anti-depressants … Continue reading

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