Depression or “Black Dog”
What is the truth about Churchill suffering from depression, which he referred to as his “black dog”? —A.L. Kansas
Churchill himself makes a few early mentions of his “black dog,” but the expression is much older than he was. It was frequently used by Victorian nannies, like Churchill’s Mrs. Everest, when their charges were in a dark mood. One reference dates it to Boswell’s Life of Johnson. Visit the Churchill Centre search engine and enter “Black Dog”; you will be led to numerous illuminating references. The first one is by his daughter Lady Soames, who I think has it right:
A lot has been made of the depressive side of his character by psychiatrists who were never in the same room with him.…
