Angelos Sofocleous
PhD Researcher / Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Philosophy
.jpg)
Angelos is a final-year PhD Researcher at the Department of Philosophy working on the philosophy of depression experiences. His research explores how interpersonal relationships change in depression. He is funded by the Department of Philosophy’s Graduate Teaching Scholarship.
Our 60 seconds interview with Angelos:
What do you do in the field of mental health?
I work on the phenomenology of depression experiences. I am trying to understand what the experience of depression is like, as described by individuals who have experienced it. More specifically, I explore what individuals mean when they describe their experience using different metaphors, such as drowning, suffocating, being incarcerated, or being in a bubble. What these metaphors share is the feeling of being a spectator - that is, observing the world but being unable to participate in it.
What do you find most rewarding and inspiring in this work?
The responsibility that comes with it. Working on an issue that affects the lives of millions of people on an everyday basis and hoping to make even the slightest positive impact in their lives. It is rewarding to feel that with each new research milestone reached we are one step closer to understanding and treating depression. What is inspiring when reading depressed people’s memoirs is reading about their recovery phase, having survived the hell that is depression.
What is the most challenging or complicated aspect of this work?
What is most rewarding and inspiring in this work is also what is most challenging or complicated: the responsibility that comes with it and working on an issue that affects the lives of millions of people on an everyday basis, hoping to make even the slightest positive impact in their lives. It was shocking when at some point in my research degree I realised that many of the authors whose memoirs I was analysing had committed suicide. We are dealing with a serial killer who is on the loose. Catching it, understanding it, and getting rid of it is the most challenging and complicated aspect of this work.
What impact do you hope your work is having- or can potentially have?
Understanding the depressed individual’s experience as that of being a spectator can inform psychotherapy and other practices, such as mindfulness, which can be used to treat mental disorders. This means that the goal of therapy and interventions is to be targeted at re-establishing feelings of connectedness to other people and belongingness in the world.
Could you share with us one piece of advice that you follow for your own mental health?
A piece of advice I follow for my own mental health I got from writer Caitlin Moran. In her entry in the anthology Dear Stranger, she says, “become your own pet”. “Imagine how you would treat a pet”, Moran says, “how you talk to it in a gentle voice; make sure it’s warm; delight in giving it treats, or taking it for a walk.” Those who have a pet can understand the level of compassion and care that our pets receive, and ‘becoming our own pet’ can ensure we give these to ourselves too.