BBC ONE | The One Show - Consumer blog

Depression - why do women suffer in silence?

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:19:16 +0000

The word 'depression' is hopelessly overused these days. I often hear people talking about being depressed when their football team loses. What they mean is that they're a bit cheesed off. If they really had depression, sadly, the last thing they would want to do is admit to it in public.

In the 19 years I've been a GP, I've seen a huge rise in the number of people suffering 'real' depression - the kind that at best affects your life and at worst makes it impossible to function. As we saw in Ruby Wax's film (watch it here), women suffer more commonly than men, and they seem to have special problems in their forties and fifties.

It's hard to pinpoint why. Women are more likely to be juggling a family and career than they were before, and at the same time the media is full of stories about 'superwomen' who juggle galas, high-powered office meetings and motherhood with ease. It's hardly surprising that we are unrealistic about what we expect of ourselves. We're also meant to breeze through the menopause - yet the hormone changes can make you anxious and weepy. There may also be other major changes in your life at this time - kids moving out of home, problems talking to your husband.

Depression is a vicious illness. One of the most common symptoms is a feeling of hopelessness. The fact that employers are often unsympathetic to mental health problems makes admitting to it even harder. And if that attitude prevails, I can see more and more women battling on in silence until they reach crisis point.

So if you feel like you can't cope, please make an appointment with your GP. We will understand what you're going through, and nobody will tell you to pull yourself together. There is more help in the form of counselling than ever before, and even if getting the right counselling can still be a lottery, it has to be better than suffering in silence.

Can the flu jab give you the flu?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:34:16 +0000

Can't see the film? Click here to watch.

This is the start of the flu season when people start coming into my surgery with a 'touch of flu'. The trouble is there's no such thing.

There are hundreds of viral infections which cause milder flu-like symptoms but if you want to know if you have real flu, ask yourself one question: Do I think I'm dying? If the answer is no - you don't have flu, you simply have a nasty cold.

The fact that so many people confuse the flu for a cold and vice versa, is important when it comes to the flu jab.

Lots of people who need the flu jab are wary about getting it. They tell me that in the past the flu jab has given them the flu - but actually that's impossible!

The flu jab is not a live vaccine so it couldn't infect you with the flu virus. Fact is, we give the flu vaccine every year at just the same time people are starting to come down with colds.

They have the flu jab, get nasty cold symptoms a couple of days later and blame it on the vaccine. But truth is the flu jab could actually save their lives.

For most of us, flu is thoroughly miserable but not life-threatening. Common symptoms include:

Fever
Chills
Shivering
Severe headache
Dry, harsh cough
Weakness and tiredness
Loss of appetite
Sore throat
Muscle aches and pain

If you're older or have other medical problems like heart disease, chest problems or diabetes, you're much more likely to suffer the complications of flu like pneumonia and it's these that will kill you.

If you think you might have a complication, say coughing up blood, pain in your chest when you breathe or you're short of breath, you do need to see your doctor. Otherwise a GP surgery is the last place you want to be. Why? You'll probably be waiting to be seen for hours, with the many others with similar symptoms.

And then when you do eventually see a doctor, we won't really be able to help and you'll have probably picked up another horrible set of germs from that person coughing on you, in the waiting room.

Thankfully, you'll probably get over it in a few days, that sadly doesn't apply to those with medical problems.

Without the flu jab they're taking a chance on their lives. It doesn't have to happen.

Find out the facts about immunisation and the flu jab here.

Are you wary of getting a flu jab? Why's that, then?

Is depression an embarrassment?

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:19:44 +0000

Can't see the video? Click here to watch

Can people with mental health problems work? You can't see mental illness.

That person with the mental health problem isn't that weird bloke who smells funny and walks down the street talking to himself, they are me and you.

And chances are, you've probably walked past 10 more people who are suffering with mental health problems.

Depression is the single most common problem patients come to the surgery suffering from, hence why I have a box of tissues strategically placed next to the patient.

The moment you take that time to listen, is the moment a person starts to open up. Often it's such a relief to them, they often become overcome with the emotion that they've been holding back.

But it's getting to that point where a person is ready to confront those feelings, the angst, that cloud. And the stigma that
society puts on sufferers makes it even more of an impossible choice.

Mental health problems can affect the strongest of characters, One Show guest Alistair Campbell suffered a breakdown after months of intensive stress at work, too much alcohol and myriad other complex issues. Watch him talk about it on BBC Headroom.

What makes me most upset is that society is so narrow-minded that people would rather admit to having back pain or any other physical ailment rather than admit to suffering from some kind of depression.

Even if you find the strength to admit it to yourself, your family and your friends, you've still got to deal with work. Or is it better not to?

In Sue Smith's case telling her work colleagues that she was suffering from depression signalled the loss of her job. Her story was so moving, she nearly had me and the crew filming, in tears.

Sue was first diagnosed with cancer which sent her into reactive depression, while her colleagues were initially supportive of her fight against cancer, most of them couldn't deal with her depression and felt more comfortable pretending it didn't exist. Sue did recover but she did lose her job.

Cambridge's local health service is trying to tackle the discrimination of people with mental health problems head on with Time to Change, which will run nationwide next year.

What I'd say to employers is don't cut off a whole raft of invaluable employees just because they may be suffering from mental health problems. They have a lot to offer, you're only denying yourself and your business, after all they have a range of skills and experience too.

And really it doesn't have to be that way. Would you tell your boss you're suffering from depression?

If you feel you're suffering from depression and want to talk to someone, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or click here to visit the Samaritans website, or for more information contact MIND.