Confrontations with the Unconscious (your own and other people's)

The themes of depression (in its various forms) and nervous breakdown have been much in the media recently. Its seems that there is an ever increasing incidence of these conditions amongst celebrities, including politicians and their advisors. People may remember the case of Derek Draper, a "Spin Doctor" in the early years of the Blair government who later fell out with his colleagues and had a "breakdown" (or breakthrough as some might regard it). I think Mr Draper then became a psychotherapist.

In response, some people who have experienced severe mental illness have complained to the media that accounts of their emotional woes, and lows, by high profile individuals trivialise the whole subject. Indeed, it is important to distinguish between the kind of maladie (however apparently intense) which may leave someone temporarily unable to function properly, with a devastating illness which makes it impossible for the sufferer to function for prolonged periods, if at all.

Most people will encounter some kind of depression during the course of their lives, probably brought about by a combination of environmental (personal and work relationships, for example) and physical factors (poor health or a degenerative illness, for instance). For people without the necessary material resources to "buffer" their situation, the treatments available may be inadequate, although this is not exclusively the case : the NHS does seem to provide very good support in some cases.

However, I want to deal here with a "non-medical" approach to mental health, which I would argue, could serve very well the kind of psychic imbalances encounted by many people. In order to do this, I'm going to provide a highly condensed overview of Carl Jung's view of "self-development", of which some form of depression is one stage. Jung also called this "a confrontation with the unconscious", to which I would add the caveat "one's own or other people's".

I arrived in Worcester after what might be described as a somewhat "extroverted" period in my life (I am by nature more of an introvert), which was at once enjoyable and unsettling. However, I would still jump at the chance to return to it ! I knew this time would come to an end, and when it did feelings of depression soon engulfed me. In other words I felt down ! A few months into this "depression" I had a dream in which I was walking along a stony path, in a barren place, towards what I was vaguely aware to be a cave (although I could see nothing ahead of me).

The next day I was in a book shop when I noticed a volume called "The Mind in the Cave", by a South African archaeologist. I'm not going to cover the subject this book just now (I will elsewhere), but safe to say I bought it immediately. So began what I can only describe as a personal excavation of my psyche, and a subsidiary interest in archaeology. Funnily enough, I had contemplated doing a combined degree in archaeology and anthropology when I went to University, but chose English instead as the easier option.

There are various options for tackling depression, some easier than others. Jung believed it was an important learning process : however hard some of the lessons. Initially, the dream that I have described above brought a further sense of privation. The immediate future was going to be tough, I felt. Nevertheless, as the saying goes : "When the going gets tough, the tough get going". Depression is a challenge, which like other challenges requires connection (or re-connection) with the stronger parts of the self, and managment of one's weaknesses.

I would suggest that this approach is relevant to many depressive conditions, removing the need for drug therapies, which may have negative side effects, as wel as extensive counselling or psychotherapy. The latter, like excessive media attention, can encourage what seems to have become a national "disease" in recent years : our culture of "I have a problem, therefore I am" (in the case of the individual); or "We have a problem, therefore We are" in the case of certain social groups.

So my messages are :

• Physician Heal Thyself (or Physicians Heal Thyselves); and
• As with my English Degree, the easier option is can be right at the time

The Castle by Franz Kafka

I chanced upon this book in my local library, and it came to mind when a friend said that he found reading Kafka "almost unbearable" (ie too painful), or words to that effect.

The synopis on the back of the Vintage Classics edition of The Castle says that : "This is the story of K and his arrival in a village where he is never accepted, and his relentless, unavailing struggle with authority in order to gain entrance to the castle that seems to rule it...."

Now this reminds me a little of my arrival in Worcester several years ago, and subsequent dealings with local bureacracies (private and public), and in particular the Health Service.

The Worcestershire Royal infirmary occupies a sort of castle, built, under the Private Finance Initiative, on the edge of town. It is fair to say that quite alot of controversy surrounds this institution, as something which consumes large amounts of money.

My guess is that most people enter the employment of the National Health Service with worthy intentions, but end up struggling with "the system" like characters in a Kafka novel . The exception to this may be certain hospital managers, "trustees", and contractors (particulary IT).

In my own case, having been to the hospital for a test and an x-ray in the last year (nothing serious I hasten to add), there was some question mark over whether I would ever receive the results of these (owing to bureaucratic complications).

When I did manage to obtain the results, these required interpretation from 2 GPs in order for me to obtain a "balanced opinion" (with which I'm reasonably happy) Not the fault of the hospital this, but a cautionary tale nevertheless.

I once said to a fellow "patient" at the GP surgery in question that obtaining an appointment was more difficult than gaining access to a former Soviet Block country (in fact this was easier in my experience !), and the border guards may have had better customer service training.

So when I first came across The Castle, I decided not to read it as it seemed rather too similar to my everyday experiences.

World War III by Michael Tobias

This book, published in 1998, is not about a literal third world war. It's subject is "Population and the biosphere at the end of the Millennium". With a forward by the conservationist Jane Goodall, and reviews by, amongst others, William Shatner (of Star Trek fame), this is not a work of "science fiction". However, it covers a subject which has become strangely taboo in recent years : human population growth, and its impact upon people and other life on earth.

In a recent - and rather short - interview on BBC Radio 4, a representative from the London School of Tropical Medicine pointed out that "family planning" is the most effective means of reducing child poverty in less-developed/developing countries, and argued that this message still applies to African countries, notwithstanding the AIDS crisis in some of these. He also said that this evidence-based policy instrument has become increasingly difficult to advocate.

Population and demography are certainly complex issues, and whilst it is true that certain countries, such as Russia, are experiencing a decline in numbers of people, overall world population is very much on the increase. Similarly, in the UK, whist Scotland has the highest rate of population decline in Western Europe, England has one of the highest rates of forecast population growth.

Increasing numbers of people raise important issues in the global and international context, as well as for national, regional and local planning, and particularly where there is rapid population growth alongside poor environmental management and infrastructure development. This is indeed an issue where we need to think globally and act locally. However, it is also an issue where policy making is increasingly marginalised, and left to so-called "market forces".

"The Edge of Town" is precisely the place where population pressures are most being felt : whether in "plans" to expand English towns and cities into the surrounding countryside, or to build entirely new ones; or in the slums and shanty towns through which the burgeoning cities of some Asian countries are spreading into rurals areas, often displacing small farmers who have to seek their livelihoods elsewhere.

The consequences of this expansion of human habitat are profound and often devastating. Such issues provide the material of Michael Tobias's book which I strongly advise people to read. The perspective is primarily ecological, and it calls for a fundamental reappraisal of the kind of economic thinking which very much links "growth" with population increase whether at the national or international level.

However, I would also argue that population growth in the form now taking place in some regions of the world brings with it the potential to create the conditions for an actual World War III. For in many of those countries experiencing rapid population increase, there is not a commensurate increase in economic and employment opportunities, particularly for young men. This is precisely the kind of scenario from which major conflicts tends to arise.