How You Can Raise Awareness of Depression
Raising awareness about depression is important because it helps remove some of the stigma associated with the disease.
When there's less stigma surrounding a health condition, people seek treatment faster.
Removing the Stigma Around Depression
There are a few types of stigmas surrounding depression. There is the public stigma, perceived public stigma, and a personal stigma. What're the differences between the three?
- Public stigma is how society as a whole feels about a condition or behavior.
- Perceived public stigma which is your perception of that.
- Personal stigma which is your prejudices and stereotypes and how those external stigmas affect you internally.
What can you do to remove the stigma around depression? Well, there are a few things you can do to help remove the stigma and raise awareness.
- Be vocal about it on your social media platforms. Start a conversation about depression.
- Affirm that depression is real and that it is okay to have it, legitimize it as a disease.
- Include links to resources for people to find them if they're struggling with depression themselves.
Share Your Story
Whether you share your story online or in-person, your story may help other people feel that they're not alone, that they can find support near them, and your story contributes to removing the stereotype that's projected onto people who face depression.
Talk About It
Read books, articles, watch films and videos that discuss themes of depression. Don't be afraid to discuss depression where you've seen it. There are many people out there who are interested in talking about it as well.
Join an Organization
If you're still in school, whether that's middle, high school, or university, many schools offer clubs, organizations or agencies that focus on mental health or depression. These clubs have events where they focus on suicide prevention week and hand out flyers.
If you're not in school, sometimes things in your community have resources that you can use, like stickers, hotline numbers, and information you can pass on to people that help raise awareness of depression.
