A brand-new treatment for symptoms of mild to moderate depression has been added to Cornwall’s mental health services.

The Talking Therapies service has expanded and now offers interpersonal psychotherapy. 

Myles, from West Cornwall, spent his working life as a pilot for the military and a commercial airline, living and working abroad. During the pandemic he became redundant, isolated, and struggled to adapt to life back in his home county.

“I had been in the military, living abroad and working as a pilot for all my working life. During the pandemic, I became redundant, so my wife and I decided to move back to the home I grew up in, in West Cornwall,” said Myles.

“I was made redundant two years before I should have retired and I felt like I had the ground whipped from beneath me. My life had suddenly significantly changed. Everything I thought I was had disappeared. 

“I became reclusive, lazy, and started drinking alcohol excessively. I only wanted to socialise with my wife and leaned heavily on her. I was full of self-doubt and was miserable.”

Interpersonal psychotherapy looks at the link between relationships and depression. It recognises that relationship difficulties can be a key factor in depression. Life can feel easier if you have healthy and supportive relationships around you.

Unlike other talking therapies, interpersonal psychotherapy is structured and practical. It focusses less on emotions and asks the patient to take an active role in their recovery. This is to improve their relationships with others.

Although not believing he was depressed, Myles was persuaded to visit the GP by his wife. It was there that the GP thought he had mild depression and could do with benefit from the Talking Therapies service.

Myles was treated by Laura Matthews, who is the Talking Therapies counselling and psychotherapy professional lead. 

Laura said: “Interpersonal psychotherapy takes places over 16 weeks and for around 50 minutes per session. It requires time and effort on the patient’s behalf. It requires a level of commitment to look at current relationships and how to improve them.”

Laura explained how using interpersonal psychotherapy and improving relationships helped treat Myles’ depression.

 “Together, we looked at how Myles could adapt to life as a retiree,” said Laura. “We also wanted to work on rebuilding social networks, so that he could rely less on his wife. We worked on encouraging Myles to spend time outside and to go on dog walks. 

“We looked at ways to build up his confidence and to spend time away from his wife with old school friends. It was important to encourage him to have his own social network so that she wasn’t his everything.”

Gradually, interpersonal psychotherapy transformed Myles’ life.

“I had my treatment online through Microsoft Teams. It was two or three sessions before I realised that I needed help. All my family knew I was receiving help and they supported me.

“The therapy made me realise that I needed to socialise more so I got in touch with old school friends. I now meet up with them once or twice a month. Laura is such a likeable person and I was able to build a rapport with her. I started looking forward to my sessions and had 16 in total. Laura set me tasks each week to do and then targets for me to reach.

“I feel like someone has given me the tools to carry on with my life and to now seek help with We Are With You, in Truro, for excessive alcohol drinking. I really enjoyed the structure of interpersonal psychotherapy. It is funny really because I sometimes miss my weekly sessions with Laura. I am now a lot happier to talk about things that are bothering me.”

The Talking Therapies service provides free and confidential talking therapy for people registered with a GP in Cornwall. Patients must be 16 years of age and over, experiencing common difficulties, such as, low mood, stress, anxiety, and worry.

The team can also help people experiencing long-term physical health conditions.

Anyone can self-refer to Talking Therapies service. A councillor will assess the patient and decide the best course of treatment, as recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.