n a coldMondayinMay2010,Karenescaped,
ina panic,fromherroomina Birmingham
hospital’spsychiatricward.Shearrivedata
motorwayflyover.Lookingdown,shewatched
thetraffic,plottingfortheperfecttimeto
jump.Theflashbackshadbecometoomuch.
“Myonlypurposewastoendmylife,”she
recalls.“Idid not want to be here.”
Karen’sdescent into severe depression had started
sixmont hsea rlier, when her husba nd had been
diagnosedwith a life-threatening heart condition
andshehaddedicated herself to supporting him and
theirthreekids. Her partner recovered and returned
towork,butKaren began to struggle psychologically,
andinthemonths that followed she isolated herself
fromherfriends, became anxious and eventually
stoppedeating. After losing a dangerous amount
ofweight,Karen saw a psychiatrist, who admitted
hertohospital.
Everyonethought the stress of her husband’s illness
wasthesolecause of Karen’s downward spiral, but it
wasn’tthatsimple. “Things came back that I’d been
burying,”she says. “I wasn’t able to bury them any
more.”During an appointment with her psychiatrist
inhospital,Karen spoke for the first time about a
traumaticevent from her childhood. When she was
14,shehadbeen raped by a st ranger on her way
homefroma friend’s house. “I didn’t tell anybody
aboutit.It was a form of self-protection: if I didn’ttalkaboutit,it hadn’thappened,”shesays.
Afterthatrevelation,flashbacksplaguedher.
“Itwaslikegoingthroughit alloveragain,what
I couldfeel,whatI couldsee,whatI could
hear,”saysKaren.Aweekafterthatmeeting
w it hherpsychiat rist,she tooka stepup
ontotheflyover’sprotectivemetalrailing,
ready to jump. Withinseconds,twopassing
drivers pulled over,gotoutoftheircars,
and prevented her fromjumpingforlong
enough for the policetoarriveandtake
her back to hospital.BEYOND THE SHOCK
In the past year, morethan18,000
people have been hospitalisedin
t he UK w it h depression. Ma ny
of t hose people havea severe,
treatment-resistantformofthe
illness, meaning theyhaven’t
had any success withtheusual
treatments, like psychotherapy
and antidepressants.
Some UK psychiat rists
c hoose to of fer t hese
patients a treatment that’s
clouded in stigma and
bel ieved by m a ny to
be barbaric and 2FEATURE ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPYElectroconvulsivetherapy has a reputation as a violent – even
barbaric– treatment for mental illness. But with clinics gradually
closingnationwide,is the UK losing a life-saving therapy?
byHELENGLENNYO
VALUE
ILLUSTRATION: EMMANUEL POLANCO