Gordon Brown. Is he a manic depressive?

[Buzzer]

Word on the Westminster street is that GB is taking very strong anti-depressants, Mono Amine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) which apparently are used only sparingly when dealing with severely depressed patients.

First hinted by Simon Heffer (Telegraph) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/...is-a-damaging-disease---and-its-catching.html

then by Matthew Parris(Times)http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article3949977.ece

then very explicitly by Matthew Norman (Independent)http://www.independent.co.uk/opinio...reary-torture-and-pass-the-pills-1784467.html

These are all big hitting and very well respected columnists from the centre left and the centre right. To have all 3 of them mention it does add meat to the story.

Side-effects of the drug include insomnia and bruxism (excessive jaw-clenching to you and me. We've all seen him do that thing with his jaw too). And now the rumour mill is that there is a list of dietary do's and dont's at No 10 that tie up rather conveniently with the recommendations of people on MAOI medication.

Then to cap it all, the Labour party's own paper, the Guardian publishes this (and referring yet again to the autism rumours):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/09/gordon-brown-psychology-new-labour

"...Brown is weird and neurotic...."

This man is running our country. He could well be a manic depressive. He could also be suffering from severe depression right now. Anyone else a tad worried about this?



EDIT - Just for clarification. I've got every sympathy with people who suffer from depression. I know very very well how it works, what it does and the effect it has on the sufferer. It's a f***ing bitch and no mistake. I'm just not sure that someone who is suffering it right now should be in charge right now.

 

[Insel affe]

Hi Mo, Gordon Brown is Scottish is he not ? So taking very strong anti-depressants would be .......................... Normal

 

[Buzzer]

Hi MoFreakout

No. Heroin would be normal. Deep fried heroin at that.

 

[Pantani]

Didn't Churchill suffer from manic depression? Perhaps it is not such a massive impediment, all Brown needs is WW3.

 

[Buzzer]

You're spot on. He suffered from depression, his black dog, as he called it. I seem to recall though that it was after losing his place at the Admiralty in WWI, his near-death accident in New York in the twenties and then losing the election in 45 where it manifested itself.

Not, according to Beaverbrook (his best chum), whilst he was governing during the war. Some people say that his affliction actually made him a better person to be a wartime leader.

I'm not sure Brown should be leader if he is bi-polar right now and especially not if he is on mood-altering drugs.

 

[Insel affe]

Heroin would be normal. Deep fried heroin at that.

Brown he say Yeah....................

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Buzzer, this is the sort of stigma that people who work in the mental health profession have spent decades working against, trying to engender more understanding in society and you post a pile of shit like that, of course being careful to cover your arse with the get out "I've got every sympathy..."

 

[Buzzer]

and why do you think I've got every sympathy?

And I've done enough fundraising for MIND to know about the stigma attached to depression and other mental illnesses.

I don't think I'm being sensationalist. If I am then sorry. Certainly not my intention. I just doubt the wisdom of someone who is right now under very strong medication for bi-polar disorder being in such a job as that. It's not good for him and not good for Britain. Perhaps this thread wasn't such a good idea. Knew I should have put Ashes 2009 on the PS3.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Personally could not give a shit what his on but due to his f**king incompetence and shit government now half the bloody country's on anti-depressants

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

by the WAY

depression is very different from manic depression

if he DOES have manic depression then i'd imagine, like most others, he'd be on mood stabalising drugs, which minimalise both the highs and the lows, hopefully minimalising the effect it has on his work (plenty of bi-polar people have jobs, maybe not as high profile as GB)

to be honest i just don't think he's up to the job at this current time

 

[Gwylan]

If we look back over the past 50 years or so, a lot of PMs had problems of one sort or another. Churchill wasn't only a depressive but had a severe alcohol problem and, in the last year of his premiership, was incapacitated by a stroke; Eden had some sort of breakdown; Wilson suffered from paranoiac tendencies and Thatcher was a borderline alcoholic - it's not a happy story.

Brown's enemies have been planting stories like these for years - remember Campbell's attempts to talk about Brown being mentally unbalanced?

However, I do agree that Brown represents a man worn down by office. I feel sorry for him; he's clearly a very bright bloke, probably our cleverest PM since Wilson, and is palpably decent, free from any personal corruption but he looks like a man at the end of his tether. Whether he's ill or not, I can't speculate, but I'm sure he'd be happier freed from the worries of being PM. He's highly regarded worldwide so I'm sure he'd get a prestigious international job - why does he carry on?

 

[Billy the Fish]

However, I do agree that Brown represents a man worn down by office. I feel sorry for him; he's clearly a very bright bloke, probably our cleverest PM since Wilson, and is palpably decent, free from any personal corruption but he looks like a man at the end of his tether

I'd go along with that. The problem is that he's not a front man, never has been and never will be. He's a number cruncher. He's a behind the scenes man and he knows it, but he saw all the publicity and plaudits that Blair was getting and vanity took over.

Clever - unboubtedly.
Charismatic - not in a million years of anti-depressants, self help books or life coaching.

Some people just make better number twos.

 

[DJ Leon]

I'd go along with that. The problem is that he's not a front man, never has been and never will be. He's a number cruncher. He's a behind the scenes man and he knows it, but he saw all the publicity and plaudits that Blair was getting and vanity took over.

Clever - unboubtedly.
Charismatic - not in a million years of anti-depressants, self help books or life coaching.

Some people just make better number twos.

So you would rather have charisma than brains? I'd like both, but will take the latter over the former.

I suspect that most of these rumours are just politically motivated (whether they are true or not), even if (and I don't think this says anything) "Labour's own paper" (lol) The Guardian has printed something referencing the horrible assertion by a Tory frontbencher that Brown is 'faintly autistic'.

Part politics is a nasty business isn't it?

 

[rool]

Could he not have something else that those antidepressants are used for treatment ?.

I currently take SSRI and TCA drugs for treatment of chronic fatigue

 

[DJB1975]

Manic Depression AKA Bi Polar Affective Disorder is not just depression you tit
:hammer:

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

If GB is manically depressed and on major anti depressants..would'nt he look a bit more...well..not depressed?

 

[DIFFBROOK]

Just been to a funeral (this very morning) of a young women who took her own life becuase she suffered from mental illness. Very sad. She planned everything out, her death right down to the words that were spoken on her behalf at the service.

Those that have mental health problems actually need more than our sympathy. They need care and the right kind of care. Sadly, as today shows, for me that care is lakcking in this country.

If and its a big if, Gordon Brown is on anti depressants, then as long as they are helping him then good for him.

 

[Don't get me started]

If we look back over the past 50 years or so, a lot of PMs had problems of one sort or another. Churchill wasn't only a depressive but had a severe alcohol problem and, in the last year of his premiership, was incapacitated by a stroke; Eden had some sort of breakdown; Wilson suffered from paranoiac tendencies and Thatcher was a borderline alcoholic - it's not a happy story.

Please dont compare this lying cheating con man with the likes of Churchill, . He may be bright but he isnt in the same league.

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

He depresses the hell out of me!

 

[jcdenton08]

Hating the people here commenting on bi-polar disorder, confusing it with clinical depression. Please, if you know nothing about it, do not comment. Unless you're going to make a comedy post. And only do that if you're funny.