Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Psychologist and author of influential books on depression, arguing that it is not a disease but a way of perceiving the world, and that wisdom, not pills, is t
On the island
Eight records
Whenever I hear Ella Fitzgerald sing Every Time We Say Goodbye, I remember those glorious times when I was in love.
Well, my second record is the first record I ever listened to on my grandmother's wind-up grammar phone called The Runaway Train.
On this island I'm going to have Fredester and the Continental, and I shall dance.
Now this was really growing up when I realized that if you fall in love, well, love comes to an end, and it is just one of those things.
Wendy Morrison and Richard Pleasant
This is the the theme from the most wonderful television series I've ever seen called Sea Change.
Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major, K. 545: III. Rondo
Mozart has that wonderful elegance and clarity that good scientific theories have.
Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759 'Unfinished': II. Andante con moto
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Karajan
His unfinished symphony has got that wonderful sweetness and mystery of being alive.
Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944 'The Great'Favourite
London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult
The last record is uh Schubert Symphony number nine because it is so alive and so wonderful, and it's all that passion of living rushing on...
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:31Does wisdom come from within or without, and do you need a therapist to show you where it is?
Most people, as they get older, acquire wisdom from their experience. They we all learn from our experience, and we can learn from what other people tell us. We learn a lot from the conversations we have.
Presenter asks
2:57Why have professional psychologists over the years found it so difficult to accept that depression is not genetic or chemical, but a state brought about by how you view the world?
The thinking among psychiatrists was that all behaviour could be explained in terms of bodily processes. And psychologists weren't interested in... depression or any of the major psychiatric disorders... what determines our behaviour isn't what happens to us, but how we interpret what happens to us.
Presenter asks
8:49What did you want to escape from [as a child in Newcastle]?
My mother. My mother was a very difficult woman... The family never said she was depressed, but the whole family... We all lived on the principle, don't upset Ella.
The keepsakes
The book
The Oxford Companion to the Body
Colin Blakemore and Sheila Jennett
I'm always worried that I haven't got enough to read. So I'll take a book I've just bought, The Oxford Companion to the Body, edited by Colin Blakemore and Sheila Jennett. And it's a beautiful, thick book, full of stuff I can learn, lots of interesting stories from history, beautiful pictures.
The luxury
This will be my snorkeling suit my son gave me a special outfit to ward off the sun's rays, beautiful, well fitting goggles with my glasses prescription, and I shall just snorkel my time away.
Presenter asks
9:33How did [your mother's behavior] affect you as a child?
Because I was the youngest and I was there with her... She was really lovely, very beautiful and very sweet and charming. But she took her rages out on me... beating me and... She would say she was going to kill me and then kill herself...
Presenter asks
17:33Was there a moment after you arrived [in England] when you realized you were no longer unhappy?
It crept up on me slowly. But I remember one day when I was running the Department of Clinical Psychology in Lincolnshire, I walked out the tour of the department and I saw the daisies floating on the grass like I've never seen them before. And I was aware that I felt different and the world was different because that was that was happiness.
Presenter asks
23:45Did you ever travel back to Australia and confront your mother?
I was here for ten years without the money to go back to Australia. When I went back, my mother was old and there was no point... most parents try to do their best for their children. and a lot of parents. Cause their children a great deal of distress when the parent feels that they're acting out of the child's best interests.
“The way we see ourselves in our world is a set of ideas. They're ideas that we've created. And we're free to change those ideas.”
“The way to turn sadness into depression is to blame yourself for the disaster that's befallen you.”
“When we're unhappy, other people can actually comfort us. We can feel the warmth of their comfort. But when we're depressed, we've turned against ourselves and we hate ourselves.”
“As anyone who grew up in a difficult childhood knows, you either go under or you fight back. And I always think it's better to fight back.”
“If you make happiness your goal, then it won't happen because happiness is always a byproduct. First of all, you must value and accept yourself.”