Comedian and actor Stephen Fry once said: “When a person is depressed but aware the depression is temporary, it becomes easier to keep fighting through it. The tunnel is a horrible place to be, but when there’s a light at the end, it’s easier to put one foot in front of the other.”

We all tend to feel comfortable disclosing to people around us when we have back pain, a bone fracture or most other long-term physical illnesses.

But what about mental illness? What about depression?

How many people feel comfortable saying: “My pain is emotional? I have a mental illness.”

We often tend to assume that people who smile must be happy with their lives, whatever the truth may be.

Depression is an illness which those suffering from it tend to go through great lengths to hide with a smile – a mask they use to conceal long-term feelings of sadness, hopelessness, anger and rage, poor self-esteem or guilt, possible substance abuse or even suicidal thoughts, among many other symptoms.

Yet, even as we learn more about depression, its root causes and how to best treat it on a patient-by-patient basis, the central question that remains around this chronic illness is why so many people with depression are afraid to admit that they suffer from it.

This question is, of course, rhetorical. Many with the condition fear that disclosing it will result in exclusion from social circles, unemployment, ridicule, marital breakup, losing custody of their children and so forth.

In most Third World countries, the stigma is so severe that depression is perceived as either a form of demonic possession or social shame brought upon one’s family.

Yet another question is still often overlooked today. How does depression affect youth worldwide? Are we more comfortable and confident talking about mental health than the generations before us?

The increased use of alcohol and substance abuse among young people is one of the leading causes of depression, which in turn increases teen suicides

The increased use of alcohol and substance abuse among young people is one of the leading causes of depression, which in turn increases teen suicides at an alarming rate.

Studies carried out by the World Health Organisation have revealed some of the following findings.

In high-income countries, 3.5 males commit suicide for every female. Yet in low- and middle-income countries in Europe, the suicide rate is as high as 4.1 males for every female.

Suicide accounts for 17.6 per cent of all deaths among young adults aged15-29 in high-income countries.

Suicide is ranked the second leading cause of death globally and in Europe for this age group, following deaths from traffic accidents.

Moreover, 90 per cent of all suicides can be attributed to mental illness in high-income countries, and 22 per cent of all suicides are linked to the use of alcohol.

It is essential to address these risk factors through actions such as curbing alcohol abuse and integrating services connected to addiction and mental illness.

Despite this data, only 13 European countries are known to have a national suicide strategy.

This should be more than a wake-up call for youngsters to take the first step by supporting one another in those crucial, albeit critical, moments when someone is in a fragile state of mind, vulnerable to falling into a chronic depression.

To help someone who is or might be suffering from depression, let them know first and foremost that you’re there for them, offer them help and listen without lecturing or judging.

Encourage them to seek professional help and reassure them that there is no shame in doing so, because depression is just another illness.

Like any other illness, it can be treated, cured and overcome.

I conclude with a quote from an author, J.K. Rowling, who not only struggled through depression and poverty, but was inspired by the illness to create characters that have moved the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of youths worldwide. “I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never. What’s to be ashamed of? I went through a really rough time and I am quite proud that I got out of that.”

www.eu-patient.eu

Matthew Michael Attard, from the European Patients’ Forum, wrote on the occasionof the Mediterranean Neuroscience Society meeting taking place this week.