World Mental Health Day 10th October 2012

 I can't actually believe it's been a whole year since I wrote one of these blog posts. They are probably my favourite ones to write as I like to celebrate on all the positives and amazing things which people who have diagnosed mental health conditions do.

So, why have a World Mental Health Day? Well this is what WHO (World Health Organisation) have to say about it...

World Mental Health Day raises public awareness about mental health issues. The day promotes open discussion of mental disorders, and investments in prevention, promotion and treatment services. This year the theme for the day is “Depression: A Global Crisis”.
Depression affects more than 350 million people of all ages, in all communities, and is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease. Although there are known effective treatments for depression, access to treatment is a problem in most countries and in some countries fewer than 10% of those who need it receive such treatment.
 Taken from  http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/annual/world_mental_health_day/en/index.html

With our Facebook page having over 9600 likes now and our forum getting busier and busier we have seen just how global the struggles of those with mental health illness - in particular depression - really is. It's something that doesn't discriminate against colour, gender, sexuality, religious belief, age or anything else which can separate people. Sadly it is on the increase and the statistics now show that 1 in 3 people will at some point in their lifetime experience some form of mental health illness. Yet there is still such a stigma against mental health that it really doesn't make sense to me at all.

So many people hear the words "Mental Health Illness" and seem to write off those who have them or see "the label" rather than the person. On DealingWithDepression (both the forum and the Facebook Page ) we try really hard to see past the illness, past the sadness, past the feelings of emptiness and focus on the things that we CAN do!

This year I've asked for people to send me pictures, poems, extracts of writing etc for anything that they can do. The response has been amazing! I just hope I do everyone justice! You really are some amazingly talented people! I have been sent so many images, poems and songs that I just can't include them all even though I would love to, so I shall be trying to add more over the coming weeks to continue the celebration of talents and creativity which has been demonstrated through our members.

Some of our members have posted some of their talents on a thread on the facebook page, this is a list of some of them..

• Shane from Australia: "I make fishing rods, do glass etching, and calligraphy. Helps keep the black birds at bay"
•  Marybeth from USA: "Right now I'm in school to become a medical lab tech. Hopefully one day I can work for the national institute for mental health so I can help them in any way. "
•  Kathie from USA: "Been a writer of poetry for 27 + years!"
• Lisa: "I gave birth to twins at 38. Thats creative art in itself lol." 

Singer/Songwriters:

•  G. Smith with his demo Naked Feet:

• Giles Toller with Oxytocin Heart:

Crafters:

Knitting by JJ

 Sewers and soap makers such as Helen http://www.facebook.com/HarrietRoseSews 

Helen can be found on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HarrietRoseSoaps

We have photographers who can be found here:
Coral who is a full time Mum and lives in Derbyshire:  http://www.facebook.com/CBPhotography.UK

This is far from extensive compilation of the talents of our members, just a few. Don't ever sell yourself short because you are diagnosed with depression or another mental health illness. You are just as important, special and talented as anyone else. Do not let their ignorance diminish your creativity and your abilities.

Do something to celebrate World Mental Health Day today. Blog about it, post or tweet about it on Facebook or twitter, or a forum somewhere. Help break that stigma. No matter where you live, no matter what you like/don't like, no matter what your age or any other factor in your life, don't let depression or mental health illness be what defines you, just something that you live and deal with. You CAN beat it. You CAN get better, you CAN work through it. Never feel you have less worth or that you are a failure  (something we hear really often on the forum and page) because you have a mental health illness. You are NOT a failure! Talk about how you are feeling, break the stigma!