Depression is a mood disorder characterised by a variety of possible symptoms which vary from person to person.  In today’s society we are witnessing a rapid increase in the number of people suffering from this illness. 

So why does depression continue to be taken lightly and not for the serious condition that it is?

One reason that people do not take depression seriously is due to the public’s perception that that depression is not as important as other illnesses, such as diabetes or illnesses caused by smoking. And due to these ‘more important’ issues gaining considerable television coverage must mean that they are more important and have worse effects than other illnesses do? Surely? 

No. This is wrong. 

Depression is a leech: it clings to you and sucks every ounce of life from your body without giving you a fighting chance at swiping it off and moving on. It is like being a little kid in a swimming pool, playing diving games.  So you dunk your head under and… see how long you can last without air. The only difference being you can’t come back up; you can see everyone else above you, breathing fine. Carrying on with life.

Yes we see adverts on television that show case the effects of smoking and not to eat too much fat or slurp too many sugary substances which increase our risk of diabetes or heart problems. But this is the real world, and as important as these conditions are and as damaging as they could be to those around us, surely something that can scar a soul is just as important as something that can scar a heart? 

The World Health Organisation (WHO), has estimated that the world wide burden of depression, measured in terms of disability-adjusted life-years, would rank second only to heart disease by the year 2020. So by 2020 you, your child or just the old man living down the street from you could be dealing with this illness. 

And before you class it as ‘not as important’, think about how you or your child would feel if you were thrown this burden.

Another reason why people do not take depression as the serious condition that it is, is due to the idea that depression is a myth – or is not real.

Depression is an illness that if you don’t possess it you could easily classes it as ‘out of sight out of mind’ meaning that if it doesn’t affect you or someone you know, it must not be real. According to WHO, however, over 800 000 people die due to suicide every year. 

Are these people real enough for you? Surely a single death is far too many?

Depression is like your shadow – it follows you everywhere – but you cannot see it unless you intentionally look for it. And because you cannot see depression or it does not affect you personally, it does not mean IT doesn’t exist.

A report in February of this year by an independent task force set up by the NHS revealed that seventy-five percent of people who need mental health treatments in England aren’t receiving any intervention at all, despite rising suicide rates. 

It adds that mental health is the single largest cause of disability in the UK.    

We are living in a socially awkward society were we enjoy pretending that everything is perfect; that life is not ending all around us and where everybody’s smiles are real.

The Loch ness monster is a Myth. Mermaid’s are mythical. Unicorns play in Elysian fields.

Depression is a fact of life. For many.

We need to be educated. And that begins in our schools.  There is a chronic lack of public knowledge on the condition. 

Schools today are not doing enough to reassure their pupils that they are not alone. Granted, Mental Health is covered in one PSE class (Personal Social Education): the teacher spends half the period talking about anxiety and the over half saying ‘get help if you feel down’ then proceeds to hand out numbers for Childline and other pieces of useless paper. But what about teaching the warning signs of depression? Where to go for help? What about teaching a monthly workshop on the signs and what to do if you or someone you know may be self-harming? 

And I am not only talking about in schools - the work place and local area too.

You could argue that it is better than no help, that at least teachers are taking their time to tell students about depression and other mental health problems. The real problem is that S4-S6 (pupils in the senior phase of their schooling) do not attend PSE. 

And there is no structured Mental Health awareness for adults.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death in fifteen to twenty-nine year olds. Fifteen is the age you are in fourth year; PSE in fourth year. And that one class that gave you any small piece of information on what to do if you are concerned that you may have depression or another mental illness is taken away from you. 

In schools today we have Guidance Teachers and I am a firm believer that if you reach out to them, they will help. But not all teenagers believe that; they don’t want to come across as “needy” or “attention seeking”. So they bottle it up.  Try to work something out on their own, instead of telling an adult or another teacher/student.

And adults may feel that they cannot open up to someone about their worries as they can sometimes be embarrassed at their lack of knowledge or just do not have someone to open up to that they trust enough.

This is one of the problems with depression: you don’t want to talk to someone. You want to wallow in your self pity, away from people that might judge you. 

It’s fear that keep’s people from speaking up. 

In this day in age many people look to the internet for comfort when they need information. But on rare occasions this could lead to misguided answers and put people off asking for help, leading people to deal with their problems on their own and bottling their emotions up. 

This is also why the number of suicides through depression is rising year by year.

To conclude the reason depression continues to be taken lightly and not for the serious condition that it should be treated as is due to people not believing that it is an important illness. 

That it is a myth. 

There is a lack of knowledge on the condition. But the one thing that holds those suffering from the condition back is fear.  Its fear that stops people from speaking up and getting help, which leads to those not cursed with it not believing in it or not taking it seriously. 

If sufferers cannot take the illness seriously and stand up to the bully that is depression. How can the Society we live in meant to come to terms and understand the brutality that is Depression Today?