Celebrating Depression on World Mental Health Day 2012
This year's World Mental Health Day is being commemorated around Depression.
According to the World Federation for Mental Health , " Depression can affect anyone and it is one of the most widespread illnesses, often co-existing with other serious illnesses. According to the World Health Organization, unipolar depressive disorders were ranked as the third leading cause of the global burden of disease in 2004 and will move into the first place by 2030."
There is a certain irony in the headlines for the statement from the Ministry of Health in Guyana.. under President Ramotar's plans to modernise Guyana. These modernisation plans do not seem to be reflected in any mental health policy which is sincere at addressing the needs of the population.
The Ministry of Health in cutting and pasting the statement have not bothered to pretend to any platitudes of what the Guyanese who have depression could celebrate in Guyana.
A couple of us met last Sunday and we talked about what could be done. It is sexy to think of forming another organisation, but we decided against that.
We also recognised that there are few mental health professionals practising in Guyana .
We decided that we would think through ways of raising awareness. One guy told me last night that 'everybody has depression and gets depressed sometimes'.
Mark Oxley writing in the Guardian notes that "The single biggest misunderstanding surrounding depression is that we've all been a bit depressed at one time or another, so what's the fuss all about? We haven't all had depression. It's around one in four or one in five. Depression is very different from feeling a bit down. It's not that Monday morning feeling, or returning from holiday to find the house has been burgled. It's not even the end of the affair, or the loss of a friend. It's far more all-consuming. We've all had a cold, but we haven't all had pneumonia."
While it is depressing that modern Guyana seems not to be too bothered to provide adequate mental health programmes, it is important to start talking about depression and how we can deal with it as we deal with other illnesses.
According to the World Federation for Mental Health , " Depression can affect anyone and it is one of the most widespread illnesses, often co-existing with other serious illnesses. According to the World Health Organization, unipolar depressive disorders were ranked as the third leading cause of the global burden of disease in 2004 and will move into the first place by 2030."
The Ministry of Health in cutting and pasting the statement have not bothered to pretend to any platitudes of what the Guyanese who have depression could celebrate in Guyana.
A couple of us met last Sunday and we talked about what could be done. It is sexy to think of forming another organisation, but we decided against that.
We also recognised that there are few mental health professionals practising in Guyana .
We decided that we would think through ways of raising awareness. One guy told me last night that 'everybody has depression and gets depressed sometimes'.
Mark Oxley writing in the Guardian notes that "The single biggest misunderstanding surrounding depression is that we've all been a bit depressed at one time or another, so what's the fuss all about? We haven't all had depression. It's around one in four or one in five. Depression is very different from feeling a bit down. It's not that Monday morning feeling, or returning from holiday to find the house has been burgled. It's not even the end of the affair, or the loss of a friend. It's far more all-consuming. We've all had a cold, but we haven't all had pneumonia."
While it is depressing that modern Guyana seems not to be too bothered to provide adequate mental health programmes, it is important to start talking about depression and how we can deal with it as we deal with other illnesses.
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