I kept my depression secret from my father, archbishop’s daughter reveals
THE Archbishop of Canterbury’s daughter, Katharine Welby-roberts, has told how her father was unable to help her through her battle with depression, including her suicidal feelings.
Ahead of the release of her book, I Thought There Would Be Cake, the mother of one disclosed how she did not turn to her father for help, despite his public role being to care for those who need it.
“I wished I was dead and thought about dying and how I would die, but I never would, in fact, have acted upon it because there would have been too much guilt about what it would have done to other people.”
The 31-year-old has suffered from depression and anxiety for more than 10 years, as well as battling chronic fatigue syndrome.
During the time she was having suicidal thoughts, Welby-roberts said she did not turn to her family for support. “Not from my family. From other people, fine. I still honestly can’t really explain it,” she said. “At that stage, my relationship with my parents wasn’t very close. There is only so much you can do when your daughter isn’t talking to you. They weren’t aware of how dark my mental health had got.”
Aside from her book, Welby-roberts also took part in a film for mental health charity Heads Together, the campaign spearheaded by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, earlier this year to share how writing had helped her cope.
She was diagnosed with depression at the age of 19, but admitted that she “didn’t do anything about it for a long time after diagnosis”.
Her recovery began when she met Mike Roberts, whom she married in 2014 at Canterbury Cathedral in a service conducted by her father. She gave birth to her son Elijah in October last year.
She added that her relationship with her parents was now “completely different” and that society had made much progress in recognising mental health problems.
“If I was 19 now and diagnosed with depression, both of my parents would have handled it completely differently simply because they have more information now and better understanding,” she said.
I Thought There Would Be Cake will be published by SPCK on Thursday.