Episode 28 - Emotion at Work Stories - Depression

Aug 2, 2018

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This episode picks up the Emotion at Work in Stories theme I started earlier this year. This time it is with Karen Teago as my guest, we take a trip into how depression has been a part of her life for 15 years.

I asked Karen to be on the podcast as she wrote a blog a few years ago (https://teagohr.wordpress.com/2017/10/10/this-is-what-it-looks-like/) and it affected me then and still does now. Depression is one of the things that are both talked about and not talked about all at the same time. With Karen being willing to be open and frank about her experiences it was important to me that I create a place and space to allow a depth of exploration of the topic.

This is a frank and honest episode and our conversation lasted for nearly an hour and twenty minutes so there is a lot to listen to. If you are affected by anything in this episode then there are support options open to you:

The Samaritans can be contacted here https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help-you or call them on 116 123 (it is free)

The mind can be contacted here https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/helplines/

You can also call the NHS on 111 or make an appointment with your local GP

We explore her experiences with depression as a condition, with medication, with postnatal depression, the important area of disclosure and how guilt has been a part of her experience too. I (maybe unfairly) ask Karen for any advice or suggestions if anything in the podcast resonates with you and I add my thoughts too. At one point Karen talks about how she became aware of her condition by reading a case she was working on.

After we recorded the episode she found this paragraph from 'Notes on a Nervous Planet' by Matt Haig (@matthaig1) that she felt better explained her experience:

"Later, doctors would offer labels. 'Panic disorder', 'generalized anxiety disorder' and 'depression'. These labels were worrying, but also important because they gave me something to work with. They stopped me from feeling like an alien. I was a human being with human illnesses, which other humans have had - millions and millions of humans - and most of them had either overcome their illnesses or had somehow managed to live with them. Even after I knew the names of the illnesses I had, I believed they were all stemming from inside me. They were just there, the way the grand canyon was just there"

Here's a link to the full book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Notes-Nervous-Planet-Matt-Haig/dp/1786892677

With this being a Stories episode there aren’t many references as such. There are some things we talk about and here are the links to those things:

The unexpected yet innocuous question came from Margaret Burnside @margaretburnsid

The book on sleep Karen references is https://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-We-Sleep-Science-Dreams/dp/0241269067

The Mind Website with details for resources for Corporate partners https://www.mind.org.uk/search-results?q=guidelines%20for%20corporate%20partners

More information for breastfeeding and taking medication https://www.breastfeeding-and-medication.co.uk/