Depression busting

Tim Watkins suffered from depression for so long that he has a five year gap on his CV.  He says 'It lifted very gradually.  One day I was cycling down the street and thought "I'm not depressed any more". At that time, I felt that someone who had lived experience of depression could provide considerable support to others in their personal journeys to recovery'. 

Since 2001,  he's been using his insight as the Director of 'Journeys', a charity which offers services to people with depression, including an eight week Depression Busting course.  He's not alone in his personal history with the illness: all the people who deliver the course know what it's like to be depressed themselves and act as role models for participants.

They teach participants to take control of their own lives, giving them the skills to work towards their own recovery.  The course helps people understand the benefits of medication like Prozac, but also its limits.  It also addresses practical issues like food, sleep and exercise, alcohol and drug intake and social skills.  With these issues the health messages may seem obvious, but it can be hard for someone with depression to put the messages into practice. 

The course addresses how complementary therapies can offer relaxation and 'time out' for those with depression, but also warns about the dangers of seeking a 'miracle cure' - or of being preyed upon by unregulated practitioners offering outlandish treatments.  It emphasises that recovery from depression is likely to be the result of re-evaluating a whole life style rather than a single 'fix'. 

Depression is often seen as a mild illness, and therefore many will go to get their first prescription of Prozac believing that they will recover in a week or two.  But for many it can be a long-term, frightening and even life threatening condition, compounded by an inability to deal with the practicalities of daily life.  Trainer Jacqui Rafferty says 'I didn't read letters or bills for weeks and weeks, until finally I had the baliffs at the door.'   People may also find it hard to fill in the necessary Job Centre forms, or to get family to understand that they are struggling to function.

At the end of the course, participants form self-help groups to continue to support each other until they recover.  For some, the groups lead back to employment.  For others who haven't completely recovered , they are a route to health improvement.  Relatives also find it useful: Barbara says 'on days when he didn't want to get out of bed, I didn't know whether to pull the covers off or leave him there.  Now I understand the illness much better.'

The charity has been approached by doctors eager to make Depression Busting available at their surgeries but so far this has stalled because of lack of funding.  But the course has gained the respect and support of Rhondda Cynon Taff Local Teaching Health Board who are working with Journeys to roll out the course in local communities.  For a condition where GPs can often only offer drugs and long waiting lists for talking therapies, this is an immediate and comprehensive intervention.  

For some, the journey will still be long, but users are taking an active path, rather than spending long periods 'on hold' waiting for a miracle to descend from outside.