According to the World Health Organization, depression is often misconstrued as simply a state of dramatic sadness and pessimism, when in reality depression is a serious mental disease that affects nearly 350 million individuals around the globe each year.
The WHO also reports, depression is a highly treatable mental illness. Unfortunately, many people don’t seek treatment because the disease has been stigmatized as a sign of personal weakness or failure. This hinders people’s willingness to seek treatment out of fear of rejection. Research has shown that gaining knowledge about depression and learning how to respond to those who suffer from depression with empathy can be the most effective and impactful responses to encourage treatment.
Accepting the fact that someone who is suffering from depression cannot simply “snap out of it” is an extremely important concept to consider when encouraging a loved one to seek treatment and care. According to the Office on Women’s Health, most people who do seek treatment for depression do recover.
Depression is not a make-believe feeling, but in fact it is a real condition.
The first step to diminishing the stigma about depression is empathizing with those who are suffering. Gaining knowledge of what depression is and continuing to raise awareness about the disease are keys to improving our empathetic interactions with depressed friends and family members and can likely increase the rate of treatment.
Content for this segment was created by Rane Belling as part of a project for SC301: Foundations of Health Communication, taught by Ms. Clubbs.
Resources:
http://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/basics/mental-illness/depression.html
http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/depression.html
