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DepressionArrow
Age 65+
Interview 13  

Interview 13

Age at Interview: 69
Sex: Male
Age at Diagnosis: 39
Background: A retired 69 year old male who has suffered bipolar disorder since young adulthood, and severe bouts of depression requiring hospitalisation.
Brief outline:Has only recent seen himself as getting better, being helped by therapy (eg. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Gestalt), a clairvoyant therapist/doctor, the learning of meditation techniques, and medication (Effexor 75mg, Lithium (400mg/day).


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He was taught as a child that pleasure was wrong, but later found out that life is about pleasure and happiness.

 



Well my mother was very keen on the Catholic religion and her interpretation of it was that people were meant to suffer in this life, and it was God's will you should suffer. And it was almost a feeling, certainly I got from her the feeling, that if I was really doing things that I really enjoyed doing-that was selfish, it went against Jesus' teaching.

Because of all the unpleasant experiences I've had psychologically, I've realised that that is a travesty of the truth, that what a person should be doing in life is what gives them the most pleasure, and if they don't, they're actually denying their life's purpose, and it's not surprising they start showing some symptoms of mental imbalance.

My father was a very melancholy character, and he had a very strong influence on me because I... I was aware very early on that if I was cheerful around him he didn't like it, in fact he really couldn't bear it. And so I got into the... into the way of sort of feeling sort of slightly sad when I was in his company so I wouldn't show any signs of exuberance, because I knew that then the atmosphere would get so painful.
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