You know what's funny, this article is right on time.
Not to get too much into my business, but I just started a new job last week. Apparently they are a mental health advocacy non profit. As we speak they are now in Capitol Hill lobbying for Congress to push for more laws acknowledging the issue.
My baby momma has post partum so it really hit home when they explained to me what they do once they got me on board.
The biggest issue right now concerning mental health, is that society doesn't yet acknowledge it as a medical condition. Mental health sickness is just like any other sickness, like the flu, measles, etc, but society sees it as a separate thing, and because of that, it seldom gets treated.
The company I work for actually has a Mental Health First Aid Kit, which is basically a kit to help treat people with mental illnesses: some reading material, a notebook, etc. Just like any company will have a first aid kit for cuts and bruises, there should be more MHFA kits available to the public, especially in the workplace where people have the most stress. If these kits were better known and more readily available, people would be able to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental health issues early on, before it spreads into something more serious. Think about it: there's a whole method to treating cuts, right? If you treat it early on, it won't spread, we all know how to treat a cut. Mental health is the same way, it's a mental wound that needs to be treated.
Anyway, I'm just putting it out there that this is a real thing in our society, and people need to understand that it's a common issue and can be treated. Not everyone can afford therapy (I'm pretty sure all this lobbying has to do with adding mental health as something your healthcare plan can treat) but I was fishing through the kit and there are some great ways to treat depression on your own:
Diet/execize of course
Self Help books
Meditation
St John's Wart (you can find it at your health food or natural rememdies store)
SAMe (It stands for something long, but this is also something you can get from the heath store)
Anyway that's it for now I have to actually go back to work, but it really opened my eyes, and I hope some of you, or anyone you know, who is suffering from depression, can get something out of what I said.
CLIFFS: Mental health is very treatable