Attitudes

If people know that there is a safe and effective treatment for depression, why doesn't everybody seek help?

It may be because of repression and denial. Even if you know that something is wrong, you don't seek help. It is a common human reaction even if it is inappropriate in this case. It means taking a big gamble

• if you try to forget all the bad things
• if you convince yourself that things are not that bad yet
• if you hope that it will pass over by itself
• if you believe that "time heals all wounds"
• if you think "tomorrow is another day", and so on

 

Behind the above hopes, thoughts and wishes can be a fear of doctors, illness or of knowing the truth - or simply a large portion of wishful thinking.

Lack of knowledge

It can also be due to a lack of knowledge about depression. The less you know about depression and the course and treatment of the illness, the lower the chances are that you or those closest to you will intervene in time.

In recent years, doctors, patient associations and patients themselves have done a great deal to inform people about mental illnesses and about depression in particular. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that negative attitudes towards depression are slowly disappearing. In newspapers and on TV, you often hear about well known people talking about their depression. They also often explain that they have either started working again or have assessed their situation and have decided to start looking for a less stressful job.

Fortunately, we are finding out more and more about depression, to the benefit of everyone, and this is one of the purposes of DepNet.

Prejudice

However, there are many prejudices concerning depression. Imagine that you have to tell your colleagues at work why you have been off sick for a long time.

What would you rather tell them?

• That you injured yourself on a skiing trip to the Alps?
• That you injured yourself tripping over a doorstep?
• That you were suffering from a protracted but harmless infection?
• That you had stomach ulcers?
• That you have had a serious heart problem?
• That you were suffering from depression?

They think that mental illness is something very different from other illnesses. Perhaps we are ashamed that we have not "been strong enough" if we have had a mental illness. We try to hide our depression both at work and at home because we are afraid of what other people will think and say.

Try to think about how many illnesses and injuries are caused by stupid behaviour or thoughtless actions. Many illnesses and injuries are caused by

• tobacco
• alcohol
• poor kitchen hygiene
• sport
• careless driving
• failure to follow safety precautions at work, etc.

Given all this, isn't it rather strange that mental illness can cause such feelings of shame and guilt? With greater awareness and openness about depression, the illness will soon be seen as unfortunate and serious, but not anything to be embarrassed about.