I was touched by this article which deals with the apparent mental health struggles of no less a person than Oliver Cromwell. Graced with the mighty title, ‘Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland’, Cromwell remains the the only commoner ever to rule as the British head of state. One of the greatest figures in English history, this pious, astute and ruthless man of humble origins, rose to become a great man of destiny. ‘Our Chief of Men’, as the historian Antonia Fraser memorably put it.
To read this letter from Cromwell, in which he quite literally asks a friend for his shoulder to cry on, is to hear the genuine voice of a person in emotional distress.
Concepts such as ‘depression’, ‘mental health’, or ‘psychology’ would have been completely alien to Cromwell, but the same message echoes down through the ages. We are all vulnerable. If our great ‘Chief of Men’ could struggle, so can we all. And in an oddly modern fashion, this stern religious ruler and fierce warrior, did a very modern thing: he reached out to a friend for help.
Take his example if you feel the same way. Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on from time to time.
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