Today is World Mental Health Day. When most people think of this commemorative day, their mind tends to go towards those people who have some form of a mental or intellectual disability. But the truth is that mental illness permeates society’s fabric on a much deeper level. Each and every day, some undiagnosed person faces a daily struggle – that of getting out of bed and facing the world. We are, of course, talking about people who suffer from depression. The illness can strike anyone at any time. Sometimes there are triggers, other times it just comes out of the blue and strikes someone, rendering them completely helpless.

Many times, people with depression go undiagnosed. Telling someone who suffers from it that tomorrow will be a better day, or that they should just “get over it” will not help. If anything, it will make them feel even more helpless.

Depression does not only make people ill, it also takes lives. Suicide is still a taboo subject in Malta and other places in the world, but we must start talking about it and we must find ways to help people. The increasingly stressful lives that we lead are not helping and suicide rates, especially involving young men.

But mental illness is not only restricted to depression. There are many other conditions, such as schizophrenia, bipolar, anxiety disorder, ADHD, autism, body dysmorphia, bulimia, anorexia nervosa... the list goes on and on.

The key to all this is spreading awareness. As ever, PN stalwart Mario Galea, a sufferer of depression himself, has pulled out all the stops to share his story in intimate detail in the hope of raising awareness about what people who suffer with such illnesses go through.

Social media has become a bit of a double edged sword. There are many support groups online and other campaigns, such as the semi colon project  which faith-based non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and love to those who are struggling with depression, suicide, addiction and self-injury.

But on the other hand, social media can give rise to cyber bullying, which is a growing worry. Children have more and more unfettered access to the internet and there is a very dark world out there where people can be driven to despair and more.

Many people who suffer from mental illness do not even know that they do. They struggle on with their demons every day. The only way to increase the number of people who seek treatment is by raising ore awareness in the hope that these people might hear of a symptom or someone’s story which might  be similar to their own. Let us spare a thought today for those who are suffering.