ALED JONES:I believe we have someone on the line now. Hello, what's your name?
SONY:Hello, my name's Sony.
ALED JONES:Hello Sony, what are you calling in with?
SONY:I'm calling because I have depression, and other problems, so I wanted to talk about it.
ALED JONES:Do you know why you're depressed?
SONY:I was born in a really like, you know, nice well off family, and… my parents, I didn't spend much time with them. My dad was in the army, and he went around the world, like, fighting and stuff, and my mum worked in a bank. I was the like… one of like, the best child they had when it came to studies and stuff.
SONY:They had really high expectations, especially when it came to exams. I would have to get As or A*s, and if I missed by like one mark my mum would be like, really angry. And I'd be like, you know…
ALED JONES:They expected a lot from you.
SONY:Yeah like, I go to one school and my mum's like, "Oh there's a new school out there. It's really good". So, she moved my school. The school I'm at, at the moment, is probably like my sixth one, because we just kept on moving around.
ALED JONES:That probably stops you being able to form friendships?
SONY:Yeah, it takes a long time, when you're shy, to make friends, and you almost get to that point, when you kind of know someone and then my mum would just move me away to some other school. My parents only found out I had depression when I was 17. And they only found out because I tried to, like, you know… I had a suicide attempt.
SONY:My mum wasn't there, and my dad, he left just like a year ago, and me and my brother don't get on well. We have these arguments like every single time, and I felt like, "I can't take this anymore", and I felt like, you know, this is the best thing to do for me. So, I just, you know… had this really stupid idea in my mind, and I decided to do it. I just got some pills and stuff. I went back home, and… started taking all the pills, and I realised I like, I did a really big mistake. And by the time I realised it, I had already taken like 50 pills. I remember like walking down to the bus station to take myself to the hospital and the bus was delayed by like 2 hours. So, I had to walk back home, and I almost realised that I was about to faint. I just called an ambulance and I was like barely able to speak. I remember them basically trying to save me, and it was really painful like, mentally and physically. My doctors came down, and they wanted to talk to me, like why I did it and stuff, and I just didn't really say much because I wanted to keep it to myself.
ALED JONES:Sounds like everything was against you.
SONY:Yeah. I couldn't connect to anyone properly in my life. When you have depression, you just can't really pull yourself up. Sometimes you just really want to give up because it's not an easy thing to go through.
ALED JONES:So you seem to be in a much better place now than you were then. What was the biggest turning point for you?
SONY:I joined a group, I have friends who have the same kind of issues, like, mental illness and stuff. They made me feel better because, I felt like I'm not the only person going through this. It was just like a turning point for me. I felt like I was, for the first time in my life, I felt like I was being appreciated for what I did, when I joined the group. But, you know, like, it takes time, and I did have incidents in the middle, so it was quite a rough time. The last one I ever tried, was just like probably a month or two ago, but it wasn't really that bad, I just ran off from home because I was really depressed, and… And I got a knife, and I just ran away. I ran like, a mile just bare foot, just went up by the cathedral, just sat there for a while and just have a thought something just popped in my mind. I felt like, if I do this, then it'd be such a stupid thing to do.
ALED JONES:Yeah.
SONY:I'm not quite there, but I'm trying.
ALED JONES:Sony, thank you so much for calling in. There's a lot of people who will be listening to this, feeling the kind of feelings that you had, and hearing that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and you can come through it is really important. So thank you very much for your call.
SONY:You're welcome.
A teenage boy called Sony is interviewed by BBC radio presenter Aled Haydn Jones.
He describes his experiences of depression including his attempts at suicide, and explains how he has dealt with it.
The radio show is fictional but the caller and his experiences are real.
Due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter, teacher viewing is recommended before watching with your students.
Teacher Notes
This clip could be used to encourage discussion around mental health and wellbeing, and in particular depression.
Do students have their own experiences to share?
They may want to create a leaflet that offers advice on how to cope with depression by either drawing on their own experiences or the experiences of friends or family.
Curriculum Notes
This clip is relevant for teaching Modern Studies and PSHE and Citizenship, in particular for Healthy Lifestyles and Mental and Emotional Health, at GCSE and National 4/5 level (Scotland).
