Alastair Campbell on surviving a mental breakdown and the pain of his son’s alcoholism

*Trigger warning - this episode may make references to depression, drugs and suicide.*

“I was dealing on and off with very bad depression, which I think in the early days leading up to my breakdown, I dealt with through drink and then I dealt with through this obsessive need and desire not to drink, which I probably replaced with an obsessive need and desire to work all the time.”

We learn most from hearing the truthful stories of others. We learn even more about what it is to be human when we get beneath someone's external performative self and learn what they actually feel on the inside. Alastair Campbell is a remarkable example of someone who has been powerful at the heart of the political world as the former Director of Communications and Strategy at 10 Downing Street and also owned and expressed his inner mental health challenges. 

In this remarkably open and illuminating episode you will learn:

• The confusion between mental and physical illness. Because mental illness is invisible, unlike physical illness we find it harder to legitimise our mental states.
• How mental health isn’t separate from the system and society within which we live.
• The link between depression and addiction, and how it can be inherited.
• Why a breakdown can be incredibly painful, it might be the route to a break through and will allow you to develop better coping mechanisms for life’s difficulties. 
• Why it’s incredibly painful to witness our adult children suffer and being powerless to help.
• The dilemma and boundary we face between self-care and selfishness. 
• The wonderful illustration of the jam jar which triggered my Freudian slip and includes tools for wellbeing that holds back malevolent depression.
• The dilemma and boundary between self-care and selfishness. 

Julia’s Website: https://juliasamuel.co.uk/

Julia’s Instagram: @juliasamuelmbe

If you'd like to get in touch with the podcast team, please contact us on therapyworkspodcast@gmail.com.

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Produced by Georgie Rutherford

Edited by Nick Kingswell

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