This interview was originally from The War Cry Magazine (Salvation Army, Australia), and was in the January edition of War Cry.

Beyond the blue

Richard Beeston stuck by his wife’s side as she battled depression. Now he’s detailed their journey in a brave, honest and helpful new book.

In Australia, one in four women and one in six men will suffer from major depression at some stage in their life.

However, despite its prevalence, on many levels depression remains a social taboo.

Just ask Richard Beeston. When Richard’s wife Alison was admitted to hospital for depression, he was surprised at the number of ‘closet depressives’ among family and friends who began to open up about their own experiences with the illness.

‘Tough exteriors built over years crumbled in front of us, and secrets hidden under smiles and pretence were uncovered,’ writes Richard, in his new book Now That You Are Back—a Journey Through Depression.

‘There is a reason why everyone keeps it very quiet—they’re scared to tell people,’ Richard tells Warcry.

‘I think that comes from the misunderstanding that depression is more about weakness and an inability to cope with the realities of life; the belief that you should just pull up your socks and deal with it.

‘Depression is an illness and it affects your brain and physical make up as well.’

Alison’s long battle with depression left the couple ‘emotionally mutilated, mentally broken and spiritually bleeding’.

As Alison sought a range of treatments including psychology, psychiatry, cognitive behaviour therapy, counselling and prayer, Richard quickly set about educating himself about depression.

‘Being a musician without the stress of a “nine to five” job [Richard is songwriter and frontman for Sydney rock/pop band All Mankind] I had the luxury of a bit more time to go out and research,’ he says.

Richard mined libraries, studied medical journals and sourced information from organisations such as beyondblue to learn all he could about the illness and how best to support Alison.

Having done the legwork, Richard hopes his concise book’s blend of personal experience, practical advice and medical research will help others.

‘I thought, “Why should I let everyone else go out and do all that again when I’ve already done a lot of the research?”

‘I purposely kept the book short because when you’re stressed out and in the middle of a crisis, no-one’s got time to sit down and read a really, long book.’

Richard says Alison’s illness caused him to wrestle with some of life’s biggest questions: What is the relationship between God and suffering? If God cares for people, why does he allow bad things to happen?

‘The fact that I was asking those questions led me to search deeper into the Bible and my faith,’ says Richard.

Today, Richard says Allison is ‘really well’ and the couple are enjoying life on the ‘other side of depression’.

‘She has, through both psychological and psychiatric treatment, been equipped with a bunch of tools to manage whatever comes her way in terms of any depressive thoughts or negative thought patterns.’

Richard’s musical prospects with All Mankind are also looking up. ‘We have an album [Puzzles] out in the Australia market and have just signed a deal through a company in Los Angeles to release it over there.’

He’s not ruling out the possibility of more writing in the future either.

‘I’d like to keep writing but it’s just a matter of having the right reason to write.

‘Being a writer or a musician, you live in a world where you’re never 100% certain you’re going to be able to do what you love for too long. So you’re always looking for the next opportunity, the next gig, and I think I’ll just have to keep doing that.’

Written by Andrea Redford.