Charles Dickens, Mr Dick and mental illness

There was a discussion of mental health on last night's This Week. Alastair Campbell was impressive, but I am not sure that Ruby Wax's insistence that poor mental health means that there is something wrong with your brain and you need drugs reflects the most enlightened view.

Because other ways of understanding mental illness are possible, and I have come across a particularly interesting one in my day job.

The clinical psychologist Caroline Cuppitt writes about Charles Dickens' view of the topic and the character of Mr Dick in David Copperfield in particular:

There is no suggestion that Mr Dick should be cured of his unusual ideas; indeed, they are never directly challenged by anyone. At first the young David finds them hard to accept, but as Mr Dick proves his worth and, most importantly, finds his place within his community, they become increasingly irrelevant. 

Indeed, it is even suggested that he is able to bring about a reconciliation between Dr and Mrs Strong that someone with a more conventional mind would find impossible. As Mr Dick puts it himself: “a poor simple fellow with a craze, sir … may do what wonderful people may not do.” 

By the end of the novel Mr Dick has recovered, not in the sense that his ‘symptoms’ have changed, but that they no longer define him. Miss Trotwood tells David that by using the strategy of copying documents Mr Dick can keep King Charles at a respectful distance and live his life free and happy. He is one of the novel’s heroes and an exemplar of recovery for the modern age.

The bicentenary of Dickens' birth falls on Tuesday 7 February. He was a remarkable man.