Alastair Campbell was a notable presence in the audience as Nick Clegg recently launched the second phase of Time to Change, the campaign run by Rethink Mental Illness and Mind with the aim of tackling stigma and discrimination in relation to mental health. Clegg’s speech was unscripted, powerful and heartfelt; Campbell’s record as a mental health campaigner is well documented and lucidly underlined in his new ebook, The Happy Depressive.
Campbell explores what it means, or might mean, to be happy. He writes movingly, for instance, about his close friendship with the Labour strategist Philip Gould, and candidly about his own experiences of depression, not least in a vivid description of the psychotic episode which accompanied his breakdown during his days in journalism.
This is not, though, a book which focuses exclusively on a personal search for fulfilment. David Cameron’s flirtation with the wellbeing agenda is given a sympathetic hearing, albeit with the caveat that the jury is out as to whether the Cameron approach owes more to positioning than conviction.
While promoting general societal wellbeing is, of course, worthwhile it cannot be a substitute for tackling the gross inadequacies of mental health provision. Vast improvements to the individual wellbeing of millions of people suffering from mental illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia could be achieved by simply providing the standards of care and support recommended in NICE guidelines or a more rational approach to tests for welfare benefits. Campbell does not shy away from this area and argues for further investment to tackle mental illness – what he calls ‘Britain’s biggest social problem’.
This book is not intended to be solely devoted to mental health, and nor is it. As he suggests, the pursuit of happiness is on a different, if no less challenging, track to the pursuit of better mental health. Nor should anyone see the book’s title in any way as a celebration of Campbell’s battle with depression. Far from it. What he has produced is a frank, honest work which cuts no corners. If policy arguments play an important part, it is the personal which is most engrossing. Moreover, in writing this book, and in speaking openly about his own mental health, Campbell helps again to show that there is nothing abnormal about falling prey to mental illness.
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Mark Davies is director of communications for Rethink Mental Illness
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Alastair Campbell
Random House | 50pp | £1.99