Poor old Sarah Vine

Depression is no respecter of wealth, social standing or status; it can affect any one of us, at any time in our lives. The misery it causes is no more, or less, whether you're a prince or a pauper.

This may come across as bitter . I do hope not. But people such as Prince William do nothing at all to make me feel any better about my life. He who has had every bit of help available to him known to man. He who can pick and choose what he does or doesn’t do in his over privileged life.

Is there perhaps rich and poor depression?

Guess what willy? My children lost their father when they were very young. I had to work my ar*e off to feed and clothe them. I had zero help from a rich father or even richer granny. Depressed ?

Sadly some GPs do just reach for the prescription pad as shown in my brief experience.

I'm an asthmatic and a long term sufferer from bronchitis. Back in the eighties when I'd just moved from London to Suffolk I was worried about the frequency of these bouts and made an appointment to see my GP. She was on holiday and the locume listened to me for a short while and then wrote a prescription for anti depressants. I asked my sister ( a nurse) about them and she told me not to take them and when I saw my GP next and told her she was shocked.

I've never suffered from depression but know people that have and it is debilitating. Sadly there aren't enough mental health professionals available on the NHS. I deal with a few psychotherapists in my work and judging by the fees that they charge for private consultations they are out of reach for many people.

Surely if people like Alastair Campbell and Prince William talk about depression sufferers may realise that they are not alone and that it is nothing to be ashamed of.

It seems some posters are happy for MH to be discussed, as long as the person discussing it is not married to a Tory or write for the Daily Mail.

Elvive it’s about people with depression, anxiety or other mental health issues being given alternative tools to manage/cure(?) themselves.

For some long term antidepressants work, for some they need other help be it group therapy, one to one or whatever is helpful to them.

What I am trying to say (somewhat clumsily) is that MH is personal and needs individual help/medication. Anyone with experience of mental health issues should be aware of the pitfalls and maybe less judgmental of others who speak of their experiences.

I do wonder about the "U turn" when I took anti-depressants over 20 years go I am certain my GP told me they were only to get me through a bad period and I should not become totally reliant on them.
Can you imagine any other illness being treated in such a manner. "Now Mrs Jones you have an inflamed appendix that might rupture, I can offer you some pain killers and you might be OK or an operation, which would you prefer?"

OK, a last spin of he dice.....the manner is sensationalising ...

I'm STILL stuck on anti-depressants, which is why I know the U-turn on medical guidance hasn't come a moment too soon

Some may decide to try other routes back to happiness, such as counselling or lifestyle changes. Others with more severe problems will have less choice

It's not about people deciding which route to take back to happiness, nobody chooses to be ill.

but I feel it is not fair to highlight possible issues with medication in such a manner.

What manner Elvive? It's been discussed in most of the daily newspapers, and on BBC radio and media today, because the side affects of anti depressants need to be brought to the attention of people who are using them and might not be aware of withdrawal symptoms. How is that possibly not fair? It would not be fair to ignore the issue so frankly, I don't care who highlights the issue; what media platform they use to get the message across or who they're married to. What really matters is that mental health, and the medications prescribed for it, have as much information as available to those who need it as possible.

As for "happy pills".... what a disrespectful thing to say.....

Gonegirl totally agree “happy pills” are anything but happy.

Anyone who calls antidepressants "happy pills" is really showing their ignorance on the subject. Not to mention being offensive.

No, not " hell bent", expressing a preference, which I believe I can do?

Couldn't care less about the Goves. I don't like the way a serious and very very complex subject is used .

People are free to follow any path they wish but I feel it is not fair to highlight possible issues with medication in such a manner.

Anyhow, I'm done. I haven't the stomach for the bickering any more.

Elvive

You say :-

" I don't care for her writing, her persona, her husband or the paper."
---

Begs the question for what you read her article for?

Sarah Vine was following up on an article she did last year about depression the ' Black dog ' days and anti depressants, as a Daily Mail reader did you read it?

Mental Health has for a while become a much discussed topic, rightly so. I don't have any issue with anybody relating their opinion or personal experience whether it be Sarah Vine, Footballers, Royalty, MP's old Uncle Tom Cobley as their opinion/experience may chime with an other who is feeling as depressed/anxious and it may help them to understand somebody else feels as they do.

Just because you are dealing with depression in one way it does not mean others will be following your path and I dare say would not think to challenge what pathway you choose.

If you had chose to speak about depression, anxiety, antidepressants criticising Sarah Vines article it may have had more meaning to other posters to engage in a serious topic. As you seem hell bent on getting your point over your distain for her, her husband and the paper she writes for I think it doesn't take a genius to understand what you hoped this thread would take the shape of bashing the Goves and the Daily Mail.

Depression has no need to be an emotive subject, in the same way that poor physical health has no need to become emotive. It is a nasty, debilitating illness and those who suffer should be able to talk it through with health professionals.

I just don't believe that the SV article is done out of kindness or concern or a genuine wish to alert sufferers to possible pit falls with medication. There are other agendas at play. A well written and well informed article by an impartial professional could have been very helpful, not a picture of a down cast woman who is hooked on happy pills.
I don't care for her writing, her persona, her husband or the paper.

Gillybob, no use me suggesting that a visit to the doctor could in fact, well help you? Wish you would give it a try. You shouldn't be feeling that down, no matter what.

I would suggest that language such as " The pill that steals lives" and " I'm still stuck on antidepressants"
"antidepressants are being used up and down the country as a quick fix for all sorts of problems"
"still stuck on the 'happy pills'"..........is emotive.

But surely Elvive as a sufferer of depression, as you say you are, you'd know better than anyone that depression is an emotive subject.

SV has simply reiterated what most other national media are reporting today i. e. that anti depressants can become addictive and patients should be made aware of this when they are prescribed them. Surely, as a fellow sufferer of depression, you must be glad that she's drawing attention to something that many people may not be aware of.

So; is it SV you have a problem with? Her politics? Her husband? The media platform she chose to speak to? What?

It's a complex issue and not one to be reduced to a few sentences. I have never experienced a GP reaching for a prescription pad.

I think that is right, though, Elvive, in some cases.
It certainly has stolen years from my dear relative's life (and the family's) when other avenues of help should have been explored instead of a GP reaching for the prescription pad.

And this is a longstanding problem - not just recent although the rate of prescribing has increased dramatically over recent years.

OK let's discuss MH services in this country. So, some time ago Mrs May made the promise of more MH help for schools and young people unfortunately she didn't make any funding available for this and anyone involved in education knows that schools are currently cutting staff because they simply can't afford to keep them. So presumably the responsibility for MH will remain, as it has always been, observed and provided by over worked teachers. So thinking that because the Tories make the right noises and discuss this openly doesn't mean that they will actually DO anything, not if involves money anyway.

I would suggest that language such as " The pill that steals lives" and " I'm still stuck on antidepressants"

"antidepressants are being used up and down the country as a quick fix for all sorts of problems"

"still stuck on the 'happy pills'"..........is emotive.

gillybob a hug for you and hope that everything improves in the future. I know how much you have to contend with

I have now read the article and did not find it opportunistic or sensationalist in the slightest.
Rather, I found that Sarah Vine barely mentioned her own problems unless they were relevant and it was an interesting piece of journalism pertaining to the present news about MH and the possibly careless prescribing of anti-depressants, which is currently being addressed.
It was coupled with an article written by a NHS psychiatrist as well.

I think your OP does show your bias against SV, her husband and the newspaper where this appeared, though, so the OP would appear to be more political than an opportunity for a discussion about MH services in this country.

Perhaps if Michael Gove should become PM, his wife may apply some much-needed pressure to improve MH services so that MH services will be better funded and the automatic reach for the prescription pad be considered more carefully, since more anti-depressant drugs are prescribed in the UK than many other countries.

OK, I suffer from depression and have for many years. Quite clearly I don't believe that health problems are suitable fodder for opportunistic and sensationalist writing. If it was The Guardian, I would feel the same.
The research SV mentions in her original article about depression is by Dr. James Davies who clearly has firm views. I don't believe that the Mail is on the side of some sort of battle to protect (mostly) women from the harmful effects of antidepressants. I think they are meddling in an area which is out of their remit.

I don’t think depression is nonsense and good on her for highlighting her struggles. My son suffers from depression and will probably be on medication for years. He has tried to stop by reducing gradually but he always needs to start increasing the dose. Elvive I think a lot of people would be offended by your comment.

No idea who this lady is am I missing anything or shall I carry on in my ignorance