Historical recovery heroes ‐ Winston Churchill
| Pages | 36-39 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5042/mhsi.2010.0621 |
| Published date | 09 November 2010 |
| Date | 09 November 2010 |
| Author | Elizabeth Wakely,Jerome Carson |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
Mental Health and Social Inclusion • Volume 14 Issue 4 • November 2010 © Pier Professional Ltd36
Churchill w as educated , as bef itted one of his
class, at preparatory schools and then at Harrow.
He disliked school and felt very alone , as can be
seen from his lette rs to hi s mother in which he
begged her to come and see him or to let him come
home, neith er of wh ich she acceded to. Physically
he was s mall and slight, bu t he was determined
to prove himself an d excelled at fenci ng. He s aid
this about his scho ol years, ‘...these years form not
only the least agreeable, but the only barren an d
unhappy peri od of my life... All my contemporaries
and even younger boys seemed far better at the
games and at the lessons. It is not pleasant to feel
oneself so completely outclassed and left behind
at the be ginning of the race ’ (Churchill, 1930).
Academically he was not a s uccess, alt hough he was
good at history and English, both of which wer e to
stand him in good stead lat er in li fe. He l eft school
in 1893 to go to Sandhurst, from wh ere he joined
the 4th Queen’s Own Hussars.
Upbringing and early life
Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born in 1874
to Lord Randolph Churchill (third son of the seventh
Duke of Marlborough) and Jennie (nee Jerome),
daughter of an American millionaire. He had one
sibling, Jack, born five years later, so effectively he
was an only child during his formative years. His
parents were very distant, his father being a busy
politician and his mother a young socialite. The only
person who saved him from emotional starvation was
his nanny, Mary Anne Everest, or ‘Old Woom’ as he
called her. Indeed when she was dying in 1895, he
returned from an army assignment in Cuba to stay
with her for the last week of her life. He said of her,
‘She had been my dearest and most intimate friend
during the 20 years I had lived’ (Churchill, 1930). He
kept her photograph in his room until he died. By
contrast, ‘the neglect and lack of interest shown in
him by his parents were remarkable, even judged by
the standards of late Victorian and Edwardian days’
(Churchill, 1966).
Historical recovery heroes
– Winston Churchill
RECOVERY
Elizabeth Wakely
Retired history teacher and service user, UK
Jerome Carson
Consultant Clinical Psychologist, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, UK
Abstract
This article provides a cameo of Winston Churchill, said by many to have been the greatest Englishman who
ever lived, largely due to his leadership during the Second World War. Since his death in 1965, much more
has become known about his lifelong battle with depression, his ‘Black Dog’, however it now seems more
likely that he suffered with bipolar disorder. This article argues that his mental illness may in fact have led
to him being a better leader. Championed in 2006 in a statue by Rethink and most recently by the Time to
Change campaign, he is a true recovery hero.
Key words
Recovery heroes; Bipolar disorder; Black dog; Churchill; Recovery; Depression
10.5042/mhsi.2010.0621
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