Nigella Lawson opens up on mental health theory: ‘Anger is depression projected outwards’

Nigella Lawson has taken to social media to open up about her thoughts on depression.

The 59-year-old has stated that she believes depression to be the ‘opposite of vitality’ and that anger is usually ‘depression projected outwards’.

Taking to Twitter, the TV chef replied to a tweet made by novelist Matt Haig which read: ‘Depression is not the opposite of happiness. It is the opposite of wellness’, as she chose to refer to a quote made by writer Andrew Solomon.

‘I always think too of @Andrew_Solomon’s phrase: “depression is not the opposite of happiness: it’s the opposite of vitality,”’ Nigella replied.

Matt responds revealing that he sometimes went through what he described to be ‘depression with energy’.

‘For me, sometimes I had depression with energy,’ he said. ‘Because I often had it with hyper fast anxiety.’

‘True, and it can also come with extreme anger, often directed at oneself,’ a fan chipped in.

Nigella later shared the argument that considers depression to be ‘anger turned inwards’.

‘Well, there is an argument that says depression is anger turned inwards, and anger is depression projected outwards,’ she added.

Nigella has been through a tough time in the past – with the food writer splitting from her husband of 10 years, Charles Saatchi, in 2013, weeks after pictures emerged of the advertising and art mogul appearing to put his hands on her throat outside Scott’s restaurant in London.

Following the incident, Nigella developed a fear of being seen in public – but she credits her 25-year-old daughter, Cosima, for helping her to overcome this.

‘I have been forced to be guarded,’ she recently told the Sunday Mirror. ‘I used to be more open and I’d like to think I will be again.

‘Cosima said to me, “Mum, would you rather be a real person like you or someone who has hair and make up done to go to the supermarket? It is better to be a real person.” She’s right.’

Cosima was born during Nigella’s first marriage to the late John Diamond, who passed away after suffering from throat cancer in 2001. The couple also had a son, Bruno.

Nigella subsequently married Charles Saatchi in 2003, and following their split in July 2013, she claimed in court to be subjected to ‘intimate terrorism’ by her husband.

He was later cautioned for assault following the pictures of him grabbing his wife’s throat, which he claimed was a ‘playful tiff’.

In the meantime, Nigella has continued to share recipes with her Twitter followers, following the launch of her own food photography app earlier in the year.

And in June, she opened the UK’s first cookery school for people living with cancer.

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