Anyone who has listened to one of my talks on depression, will know I believe strongly in having a purpose to combat depression. Funny, but not many people disagree with me. As to whether they go off and find a purpose, is of course another question.

However I have come up with my own question to myself … hopefully it takes the pressure off anyone wanting to disagree with me, and can’t think of a question of their own? My question to self is: Why Winston Churchill, who had probably the biggest purpose anyone could conceive, to save his country from the Germans – why did he, by his own admission, still suffer from depression if purpose is the wonderful antidote I profess it to be?

From the source of all knowledge, Google, ‘Winston Churchill experienced periods of depression, despite his purposeful life, possibly due to a combination of factors including genetic predisposition, childhood neglect, and the intense emotional nature of his leadership role. Historians theorise that his “black dog,” as he called it, was a manifestation of mental illness, possibly bipolar disorder or major depression. His periods of depression, while debilitating, might have also sharpened his realism and empathy, helping him foresee dangers others overlooked.’

In all my research I find no clinical interaction with Churchill as to his supposed depression. Everyone has down days. I still suffer from boarding school blues on a Sunday night, but it is not depression per se. It is a feeling of deep sadness and anxiety about the morrow; but I am a long way from being clinically depressed.

Churchill had more than his fair share of worries about England’s future – so I’m sure he had terrible days and awful moments and could well have been bordering on full-blown depression. Although none of it prevented him from leading from the front, and was, what I think one can reasonably assume, a perfectly consistent reaction to the problems and worries he faced.

Despite these periods Churchill, remained driven to achieve his purpose. He pushed through these low periods and prepared Britain for war and later led the country through the conflict. Imagine then – not that he had depression, but rather what would have happened if he had no purpose?