In It Together


68 years ago.

 In it together.

The Archbishop of Canterbury recently spoke of his depression and his use of anti-depressants to help his condition. More and more people are being open about their struggles with mental ill-health but we still have a long way to go particularly for men. Men in high positions or famous people being honest about how they cope with depression or anxiety is really helpful to everyone else. If the environment we live in is alien to being open about our problems, then we can’t move forward and ordinary men or women will continue to bottle things up and not ask for help. I have spoken to men who have had enormous help from their employers and others who have had their life made a misery. It is difficult for some people to be sympathetic and there are those who see mental ill-health as a weakness. This is not helped by some politicians and newspapers who label those who need financial help to survive a life plagued by mental illness. It is hard to be empathetic if you have never suffered and I can remember when younger I couldn’t understand conditions like alcoholism and other forms of addiction. Since I have been ill I can see the underlying issues that lead people to become addicted, anxious and depressed. Today when asked how I am, I simply say, ‘busy’, because people really don’t want to know the detail of my problems. The question is largely rhetorical. So we see people laughing and seemingly enjoying life and we make comparisons with how we feel but the world isn’t always what it seems.

Broken Bridge by Richard Dunn
I see the bright lights and hear the distant laughter.
Ordinary people doing ordinary things.
I try not to think of the joy and pleasure I see on the other side of the bridge.
Comparisons leave me distraught.
I want to be with those happy people and share their lives.

I know that happy smiling faces can conceal a different reality.
The face I present to the world hides so much pain.
There will be people in the happy place looking over the bridge at me with envy because I look happy.
We must mend the bridge so we can come together and talk.
Over time, if we talk openly about how we feel, the bridge will disappear.


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