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DepressionArrow
Age 30-39
Interview 05  

Interview 05

Age at Interview: 33
Sex: Male
Age at Diagnosis: 24
Background: A computer programmer, married with children, who has had a number of episodes of depression, the most recent was very severe. (Played by an actor.)
Brief outline:Has very good care from his GP. Medication was somewhat effective. He recently stopped taking Lithium and Effexor.


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He needed a lot of help when very depressed, and says that friends and family can assist the depressed with practical help. (Played by an actor)

 



I think realistically in the stage that I was, I was not capable of doing anything. It needed somebody around me to do the initiating... Say look, here is somebody who needs help. If someone could actually come and said you know, "Are you depressed?" "Yes." "Are you feeling suicidal?" "Yes." "Do you feel capable of initiating contact with anyone and asking help?" "No." That would have been the total of what I was capable of doing at the time. It really needed somebody else to make that contact for me and ultimately yeah, it was my wife saying, "You must go to the doctor, I will make the, the appointment. I will drive you there. I will take you there. I will sit in the, in the waiting room with you", but, "you need the help". It really had to come from somebody around me because I was incapable of doing it myself. 

And I wanted to finish by saying that the worst thing you can say to a depressed person is, "What have you got to be depressed about?" It is really as useful as saying to someone with hayfever, "What's the point of sneezing at flowers?" Depression is an illness over which a person suffering has no control. 

Instead of searching for a possibly non-existent reason for a person being depressed, if you know someone who is having problems, offer them positive help. Offer to help them open their mail, offer to help them with their daily correspondence, check that they are able to get up in the morning. When I was depressed I was unable to cope with many daily tasks, it was only with the help and support of those around me that I was able to function at all.
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