ABSTRACT

Helen first consulted me twelve years ago. In the assessment appointment, she told me quite clearly that there were two major reasons why she felt she was in need of professional help: first, because she had developed a habit of befriending men, of about the same age as herself or older, whom she felt were wounded in some way. Second, she told me that she had been suffering for the past nine months from a severe depressive episode and wanted to try psychotherapy in order to recover. She had been prescribed antidepressant tablets by her GP, but, despite the fact that she had tried a number of different medications (one selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), and one more old-fashioned tricyclic antidepressant), these had been unsuccessful in lessening the feeling that she might as well be dead rather than alive. However, there was no evidence of suicidal ideation.