Anyone watch 'Horizon 2020: What's the Matter with Tony Slattery?'

[LuluJakey1]

Just wondered what you made of it if you watched it. It's on iPlayer for anyone who is interested.

I'd like to hear what others thought of it. DH and I had differing views to each other.

I watched it. I loved TS when he was in his prime. Overall, I felt that he was grasping at straws going down the route of trying to be diagnosed with Bipolar, when in reality he's an alcoholic who took excessive drugs that have affected his brain. It felt like he was looking for an excuse as to why he was still drinking. In reality, he drinks because he's addicted to it; because his partner seems to prop him up a great deal of the time, he may never stop.
Many alcoholics are the same, those with partners who support them seem to be relatively ok. Those on their own seem to end up on the streets or dying early.

I agree he was grasping at straws with the diagnosis.

I also sensed there was an element of co-dependence in the relationship with the partner.

I remember him too, from the old days. Sad story.

he's been on the edge of madness forever,...dh had a run in with him many years back (an unfortunate series of events for TS which amazingly never made the press)

I was in love with him as a teenager. I don’t think he’s bipolar. I know someone who is and there manic episodes seem well beyond what TS was talking about. He’s obviously is desperate, an alcoholic and may have a mood disorder.
I can’t really seem him managing to get alcohol free now.

DH was very sympathetic to him when we watched it. I had expected to be -as someone who has suffered repeated episodes of clinical depression since I was 18 and knows how much mental health issues can affect your life- but, whilst I thought it was a sad story I was not sympathetic to him.

I found him so completely self-indulgent and self-obsessed. His reactions were not, imho, always genuine and I felt sorry for his partner but agree there is an element of co-dependence. The bit with Stephen Fry was cringe-inducng in its luvvie falseness. I thought Tony Slattery was disappointed to be told that basically he is an alcoholic and needs to make better choices and stop drinking. He then had nothing he could attach blame to apart from his choices. He made no efforts to change and was still sitting in his little world of idle self-obsession at the end. What a waste of a life and a talent.
DH thought I was hard on him but I just thought he needs to accept responsibility and make the changes and not sit around looking pathetic and wanting his partner to prop him up.

No I disagree. Did you not hear him tell that he was raped at school at the age of 8? By a priest I think.

I think that would mess most people up, often for life. I shed tears for the child he was.

And I don't think he is just sitting there self indulgently not doing anything. At the end they said how he has managed to cut his drinking considerably and things are looking hopeful. I hope he manages to get appropriate therapy and it helps him. What a shame he didn't do that years ago, I suppose (understandably) he was in denial about the childhood abuse.

I agree his partner is a Saint though! He's lucky to have him.

Remember him from years ago on Whose Line is it Anyway where he was brilliant, and I sometimes wondered where he'd disappeared to. Very sad. All those wasted years. I wish him all the best.

I think his partner is lovely but is enabling his behaviour though.

@Pemba Yes, I saw that he said he had been raped as a child and am not minimising that. Sorry for not recognising that as a factor. My opinion of the stuff at the end about 'cutting down' but 'still having a long way to go to stop' suggested it was minimal to me.

He had clearly done nothing else. His partner had suggested he did some ordinary things to help around the house and he hadn't even done that- I had the impression he felt it was almost beneath him. He doesn't work but would like to get back to working, does nothing at home which just makes me question what he actually does that is constructive.

I fully understand how debilitating depression can be (I have had times where I have been completely undone by it) but I suspect this is not clinical depression- which can be very effectively treated with medication but medication is not working for him.

The psychiatrist told him he needs to stop drinking and change his behaviours and how he thinks- which is the cognitive behaviour therapy approach. Until he stops drinking he'll never get any clear diagnosis.

A few years ago I had a number of assessment sessions with a psychiatrist when it was very debilitating. His suggested way of dealing with it was medication and 'walking it away'. I know it sounds odd but it was part of our discussions about things I know help me. He said I could go to counselling/therapy to try and unpick what causes it but he felt I would be better off dealing with the here and now and how to keep myself well. The therapy route would take years and may reveal things that would be very hard to deal with from when I was 7 and that I could not change. I thought he was right and have managed it really well since.

Depression is often confused with 'clinical despair' which is different and stems from chronically repressed anger or rage at how badly life has treated us and how powerless/helpless we are to do anything constructive about it. Therapy can be useful to help a patient deal with this repressed anger but they have to have made a choice to move forward with life- for example stop using drugs or alcohol. They have to be prepared to approach life differently. He is not prepared to do that so is stuck.