Depression and the Soap Star
By: Kath Walker
Tags: "illustration", "line drawing", "mental illness", caricature, coronation street, depression, kath walker, portrait, simon gregson, steve mcdonald
Category: celebrities, entertainment, health and wellbeing
So, Steve McDonald’s finally admitted he’s got clinical depression in Coronation Street. Hurrah. Hurrah, not just for the character, who’s gradually been fading to grey over recent weeks, but hurrah also to all who have been involved with this storyline.
Incredulously, the stigma of depression in particular and mental illness in general still exists, and for a mainstream TV soap to give the disease centre stage is not only courageous, but necessary.
The hapless Steve, who gives us all so many funny moments, was the perfect character to choose for this storyline. His descent into the darkness of depression shows it can strike anyone, at any time.
And as a sufferer of the black dog myself, I can say with conviction that Simon Gregson, who plays Steve, painted a scarily accurate picture of this horrible horrible condition.
Hopefully Steve’s plight will start to normalise people’s attitudes towards depression, and enable an more open discussion to develop. Here’s hoping.
One comment on “Depression and the Soap Star”
Leave a Reply
Flickr Photos
Blog Catalog Badge
Agreed! Simon Gregson has played this so, so well. The scenes where he was sitting in his bedroom in the dark. I found chillingly accurate. Well done Coronation street!