The Longing
Stuff that didn't quite make it into The Briefing
Overcoming the darkness: An interview with Philip Mitchell about depression
Greg Clarke / February 2000
A black and white view across La Perouse Bay on a gloomy evening, the sea vast and incomprehensible, the shoreline harsh. The old photo on Professor Philip Mitchell's wall in his office at the School of Psychiatry, Prince Henry Hospital in Sydney, reflects something of the experience of being depressed. The future seems bleak, dark, vast and unreachable; the situation seems hopeless; loneliness presses in.
For 12 years, Philip has specialized in treating people for depression. As a Christian psychiatrist, he has considered mental illness and