Did Enid ever get depressed?

[pete9012S]

Did Enid ever get depressed?

I found myself wondering this today and found I couldn't really answer that question myself.
Her books are so buoyant,optimistic and happy-they all seem to end on a truly positive note...

Criminals are brought to justice,lost treasure that changes the circumstances of many of the ones finding it is found,mad scientists are thwarted,families who face domestic tragedy come through,stolen horses are recovered,smuggling rackets dissolved and so on and so forth..

Did Enids enormous workload keep her from ever feeling down-or did she achieve domestic bliss within the safe haven of her family life with her husband and children.

When on holiday was she able to switch off,relax and become a working mum on vacation.
I always associate Enid with work,work and even more work-she seemed determined and driven-I suppose this itself must have given her a great deal of satisfaction by the fact that she kept up a relentless work ethic for many many years to the point that many assumed Enid Blyton was in fact a team of dedicated writers!

Like many others I continually turn to her books to experience a happy positive feel good factor that although still present when I was younger seems totally non-existent today...
Did constantly writing in such a positive vein keep Enid positive too I wonder...

If we were given the choice of living in Enids generation would any of us forsake this modern techno world in which we live....
I think on reflection I would choose to go back and live then....the world then certainly was not perfect but I think on the whole I prefer Enids generation to our current one.....

[Julie2owlsdene]

Good question, Pete. Personally I would definately go back to the 50's, which is the era I was born anyway. But what I've heard of the 40's and throughout the war, helping each other out was something you did without thought. I've heard that if anyone thought about looting a bombed out property they would be shot! Don't know if that's true or not. Life always looks more gentile in the 40's and I would like to go back in time and try it out.

I would have thought that Enid like many of us could have suffered from time to time from stress, or anxiety!

As for Enid ever getting depressed. Well that's a chemical brain disfunction, and is not the same as feeling down, or fed up. Depression is far worse! I hear that some of the comics who can make us laugh, and you'd think that nothing bothered them, can suffer from depression. Doesn't Stephen Fry? And what a brilliant bloke he is.

[Pippa-Stef]

Doesn't Stephen Fry?

As far as I can remember, I do believe that Stephen Fry is a Manic depressive. By which he has a very good or very bad days. I remember he did a program about it some years back when I was doing A Level. I caught the end of it, but didn't follow it up on iPlayer because it was more to do wtih Psychology than Sociology.

As for Enid getting depressed, speaking as someone who's had to live with a depressed person, I would have thought that if she did it would be more like a "light" depression where it wasn't too bad. A "dark" depression, I think would have been like my father's where he would stair aimlessly at a blank TV all day without doing a thing and get upset that he couldn't do the simplest tasks. (He is a LOT better now by the way).

I can't see Enid having a really deep depression, but then I'm not privy to her personal life. I don't think it says anything in Barbra Stoney's biography about it. Someone a bit more expert than me might be able to provide the answer.

[Fiona1986]

Doesn't Stephen Fry?

As far as I can remember, I do believe that Stephen Fry is a Manic depressive.

I thought he was Bi-Polar? That's why he has extreme highs and extreme lows.

[Pippa-Stef]

Doesn't Stephen Fry?

As far as I can remember, I do believe that Stephen Fry is a Manic depressive.

I thought he was Bi-Polar? That's why he has extreme highs and extreme lows.

You're probably right. I couldn't quite remember, but Bi-Polar sounds a bit more likely.

[Moonraker]

Doesn't Stephen Fry?

As far as I can remember, I do believe that Stephen Fry is a Manic depressive.

I thought he was Bi-Polar? That's why he has extreme highs and extreme lows.

It is the same condition. It is more politically correct to call the condition Bi-polar now.

[Anne.]

As a psychologist (well, still in college, but done in less than 2 years) I can say that being bi-polar or manic depressed is indeed the same thing. Suffering from extreme highs to extreme lows.
About Enid, I can't say, but she has written so many books that being heavily depressed seems unlikely, because like Pippa-Stef said, you don't function at all when you have that.

About living in the 30's/40's/50's. I'd love to, but I'm afraid that they wouldn't accept me as being gay, so well, I guess I'll just stick around in 2011... But those years seem so much more adventerous, exciting, and well, just like when I was a kid in the early '90's, you could play outside, play games with friends. Way better than kids these days.

[number 6]

Every human being has(or will) suffer from some form of depression at some stage of their lives, whether this is mild or chronic. Enid would have been no different to the rest of us. I Imagine the tensions in her personal life, ie Deadlines, Divorce, etc, must have taken their toll at some stage.

[Enikyoga]

Good question, Pete. Personally I would definately go back to the 50's, which is the era I was born anyway. But what I've heard of the 40's and throughout the war, helping each other out was something you did without thought. I've heard that if anyone thought about looting a bombed out property they would be shot! Don't know if that's true or not. Life always looks more gentile in the 40's and I would like to go back in time and try it out.

I would have thought that Enid like many of us could have suffered from time to time from stress, or anxiety!

As for Enid ever getting depressed. Well that's a chemical brain disfunction, and is not the same as feeling down, or fed up. Depression is far worse! I hear that some of the comics who can make us laugh, and you'd think that nothing bothered them, can suffer from depression. Doesn't Stephen Fry? And what a brilliant bloke he is.

Besides her depression having been the resultant of her big literary workload, I strongly believe that her depression was also the by-product of her longtime Dementia.
Stephen I.

[Katharine]

Stephen, I'm sorry if I've asked you this before, but are you a doctor or anything similar with a qualification in mental health? I ask this because you seem certain that Enid suffered from long term dementia, despite constant comments to the contrary, not just from people like myself who think it unlikely, but also people who actually knew her, have access to her personal documents etc.

Also, I've just re-read this thread, and can't see anywhere that confirms that Enid had depression, infact Anne, who was training as a psychologist thinks it unlikely. I'm presuming that as you said

Besides her depression having been the resultant of her big literary workload, I strongly believe that her depression was also the by-product of her longtime Dementia.
Stephen I.

you have either personal or professional knowledge which contradicts everyone else?

[Jack400]

Yes- I've heard that looters could be shot.Though I doubt whether anyone was shot for thinking of looting!

Jack

[Julie2owlsdene]

That's what I thought, Katharine. Looking back though the thread only asked the question - Did Enid Ever Get Depresses. I've not read anything about Enid that says she was depressed or suffered from depression. She probably got fed up, but then who doesn't occasionally??

[Fiona1986]

Besides her depression having been the resultant of her big literary workload, I strongly believe that her depression was also the by-product of her longtime Dementia.

Where did this come from? When has it ever been confirmed that a) she actually suffered from depression, b) that it was caused by her workload or c) that she had long-term dementia? Don't you usually insist it was Altzheimers anyway? She dictated her own workload, indeed it was so large as she worked so quickly. Had she only been able to work at half that speed her out put would have been half the size.

[honesty]

Personally, yes. When she was lonely, didn't have an idea for writting...
Also, in the movie: 'Enid' there is one stage where she is just looking ramdomly and sad, lost, lonely...

[Fiona1986]

The movie shouldn't be used to judge the real Enid, as it took several large liberties with fact.