16: Ancient Wisdom: Modern Science with Michelle Hammond - Episode 16

16: Ancient Wisdom: Modern Science with Michelle Hammond - Episode 16

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction to labels, pills and old stories about themselves? This conversation on UK Health Radio brings together host Michelle Hammond and retired emergency physician Dr Cathy Weald for a candid, sometimes shocking, but ultimately hopeful look at mental health and recovery. Cathy shares how an “emotional crisis” in her mid-thirties was quickly framed as depression, leading to Prozac, electroconvulsive therapy and, eventually, brain surgery.

She explains how, rather than helping, these interventions left her suicidal, sedated and “wrapped in cling film”, while the childhood trauma at the heart of her distress went unaddressed. Her line, “What I wanted was counselling. What I got was a prescription,” sums up the tone perfectly.

You’ll hear how a move to the USA, a therapist she calls Barb, and the question “Do you want to change?” sparked a long process of carefully coming off psychiatric drugs, revisiting buried memories and rebuilding a sense of self. Cathy talks openly about side effects, labels like “treatment-resistant depression”, and the relief of realising she was neither uniquely weak nor alone.

Michelle keeps the mood grounded and accessible, gently challenging the idea that medication should ever be the sole answer and highlighting the cultural pressure to “keep a stiff upper lip”, especially for women. There’s a strong message for anyone in recovery from alcohol, substances or chronic emotional pain: feelings aren’t just symptoms to be suppressed; they can be signals that something needs attention, compassion and sometimes practical change.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your diagnosis, your meds or your old coping strategies tell the whole story, this conversation might nudge you to ask a few new questions of your own. Whose story about you are you still living by – and what might happen if you rewrote it?