We must talk about depression more openly

Remove the stigma around mental illness and promote knowledge and skills in the community on selfcare

My mother, who passed away in September last year, was one of the estimated 40 million Indians who experience depression each year. That number comes from the National Mental Health Survey, the largest ever head-count of mental disorders in this country, published by the Ministry of Health in October. The Survey also reported that the majority of these individuals, up to 90% or more, received no treatment for their illness. My mother was no exception, for much of her life.

Despite being an illness as old as mankind, depression remains poorly understood. A particular challenge lies in the fact that it is hard to distinguish the understandable misery which is so very normal in everyday life from a ‘clinical condition’. There is, for example, no blood test or X-ray which can reliably ‘diagnose’ depression.

Despite this knowledge, though, the vast majority of people with depression go without any treatment.

The landmark Mental Health Care Bill recently passed by our parliament now entitles people with depression to receive the kind of community-based care which can transform lives. Today, we celebrate World Health Day and the focus is on depression and suicide. The campaign slogan is ‘let’s talk’, emphasising the central role not only of the power of talking therapies, but of disclosure “as a vital component of recovery” by targeting the stigma surrounding mental illness which acts as a barrier to people with depression seeking help.

Significantly, the WHO campaign recommends that talking can involve a wide range of potential listeners, from family and friends to professionals, as well as encouraging open discussions about this condition in settings such as schools, the workplace and in the media “ultimately leading to more people seeking help”.

It is becoming increasingly commonplace to talk about depression not least due to the growing number of celebrities, from Bruce Springsteen to Deepika Padukone, disclosing their personal experiences of struggle and recovery. However, to move this discourse beyond celebrities to the general population, we need to encourage and support people to talk openly about depression and to promote knowledge and skills in the community on self-care.

It is in this context that the website ItsOktoTalk launched tomorrow in New Delhi, which offers a space for young people to share their accounts of struggle and recovery, is timely. There is no doubt whatsoever that we must talk about depression more openly, but we must ensure that people experiencing depressive symptoms are always at the heart of the conversation.