After I wrote my last blog post "Could we learn something from the Olympians?" I was worried that someone might misunderstand what I was saying (typical of me!). So, I felt I had to follow this up...

Elite athletes get depression too

This may come as a shock to people but it's not just those returning from the Beijing Olympics without a medal who might suffer, even Olympic gold medal winners can get depression. A quick google and a list of names of top athletes including world record breaker and olympic gold medal winner Ian Crocker and olympic gold medalist Derrick Adkins appear as sufferers off depression.

Exercise can play an important part in your recovery but it certainly isn't a cure and unfortunately doesn't stop you from getting ill in the first place. They are often portrayed as super human but win or lose, the top athletes are just as vunerable to mental health issues as the rest of us.

I was pretty good at sports when I was younger but it was purely luck and I never really took it very seriously. Running and playing football was great fun but as I grew older the fun was taken out of it because of my competitors didn't like it when I won and if I lost they would make it even worse - so win or lose I couldn't win (if you see what I mean).

Anyway, watching the Olympics this year has been great. Watching the winners celebrate their achievements has been fantastic, watching people win who never expected to even get a medal has been great and also Team GB are doing very well.

But what has perhaps been most interesting is the way that many of the competitors have overcome some terrible obstacles to achieve their dreams of Olympic success. For example just watching the weightlifting I heard that it was just over a year ago when Gold medalist Matthias Steiner lost his wife in a car accident and Silver medalist Evgeny Chigishev was seriously injured in a stabbing in 2001. Many of the athletes in these games have failed in previous attempts, sometimes in heartbreaking fashion but somehow they have overcome these situations to carry on and win. And I haven't even mentioned the Paraolympics!!!

It would be interesting to learn how these athletes manage to overcome their dissapointments. Are they just competitive? Is it because they have the right kind of support? Have they learnt to handle defeat through training? Could those of us with mental health problems who struggle with life learn something from the Olympians?

Many people claim that there is a link between depression and creativity and that being depressed can enhance the levels of creativity and help you to achieve things.

A google search for famous people with depression provides some interesting results and the list includes such names as Charles Dickens, T.S Eliot, Vincent Van Gogh and Ernest Hemingway who are all without doubt very creative people. Many of the depression web sites I have visited contain large amounts of poetry written by people who are depressed. So, maybe there is something in this claim?

Other famous names include Winston Churchill, Sir Isaac Newton, John D Rockefeller and Abraham Lincoln who are perhaps known for other things other than their creativity but who it could be argued achieved some great things. Did depression help these people with their achievements?

During therapy sessions I have occassionly voiced concern about how I was worried that getting better might change me so that I was less effective at work. I felt that my depression and perfectionism made me different from others and helped me to be good at what I do and although I wanted to get better I would really not want to change in anyway that might effect my performance at work. The therapist would argue that surely without my mental health problems I would perform even better but I have had problems understanding this and have had trouble accepting it.

Has depression made me a more caring and sensitive person? A lot of the people I come across seem to work in professions that directly or indirectly involve helping people would they be doing these jobs if they didn't have depression? People often comment about how I am able to empathise with others so easily and that I have an uncanny ability to put myself into other peoples shoes which helps me to help them. Would I be like that without depression?

So, is depression all negative or is there something positive from this illness? What do you think? I would be interested to hear your opinions.

I mentioned in my last post about Mindfullness stress reduction. If you are interested here is a video from Jon Kabat-Zinn where he discusses the techniques used.

"The Third Wave" tells a story of a teacher who provides a powerful lesson about Nazi Germany and more importantly a lesson about what appears to be our natural human desires and needs. The story very much reflects my own experience and has reminded me of how my desires and needs have shaped me and effect my depression and anxiety.

Also, the Jehovah Witnesses are a frequent visitor to our doorstep and on the last visit I accepted a book (bible type thing) from them and said I would read some of it (which I have). They have also asked to come back to discuss their beliefs with me for 10 minutes which much to my parners surprise I accepted (I am an athiest). When I explained to my partner that the Jehovah Witnesses have something that I was interested in she was even more surprised but I went on to explain that they have a very strong religious belief, that many people find religion gives them strength in situations such as mine and that I might be able to learn something about this trait by listening to them. Personally, I find religion to be very much in line with the story of "The Third Wave" but I hope that how other people gain strength from religious beliefs might help me gain strength in my own beliefs (although not religous) and increase my confidence and self-esteem.

I don't have high hopes of getting much out of the meeting but not working means I have spare time during the day so I haven't got anything to lose.