ROdown Blog
Shine a light on depression
Sometimes when you’re struggling with depression it can be hard to notice that other people might be struggling too. It’s common to feel alone in your battle with mental health difficulties, but it’s important to remember that there are others out there who are going through the same thing. Not even the most famous and successful celebs are immune to depression.
There are millions of people in the world, at this very minute, struggling with mental illness. Young people, old people, men and women, from Australia to Zimbabwe are confronting their own mental health difficulties every day. It’s sometimes surprising to realise that even some of our favourite celebs are struggling to cope! The stigma around depression can often stop people from speaking out as they’re worried what other people will think of them. But one of the most powerful tools we have in confronting mental illness is to speak out and talk to people about what we’re going through.
It’s for these reasons and more that marie claire have launched their Shine a Light campaign where some awesome celebs and marie claire readers have an opportunity to share their personal stories of depression and mental illness. We love it when big, national mags talk about mental health issues, and so wanted to encourage you guys to check it out.. Some of our favourite lady celebs are speaking up about their struggles on the site including Ricki-Lee Coulter, Charlotte Dawson, Ada Nicodemou and Zoe Tuckwell-Smith.
When speaking about the new campaign, Jackie Frank, the editor/publisher of marie claire said, “As Charlotte Dawson shares her story of suffering from depression for over 12 years… [and as] Ricki Lee reveals her diagnosis of depression in a time when she had chart topping hits and wedding plans in place, - we are reminded that mental illness is both frighteningly common and indiscriminate in who it touches”
To add to the personal stories of celebrities, marie claire has launched a cool interactive online forum where people all over the world can come together and ‘shine a light’ on mental illness to try and eliminate stigma. To top it off they’ve included a couple of useful beyondblue ‘dos and don’ts’ on how to help a friend with depression including some we mention in our own fact sheets like:
- Don’t stay away from the person or assume the problem will just go away
- Do encourage people to talk about their experience
- Don’t pressure them to snap out of it, cheer up or get their act together
- Do let them know you’re there to listen without judgement
- Don’t encourage them to party more or wipe out how their feeling drugs or alcohol
To check out the new site and read some stories, check out marieclaire.com.au/shinealight and help add your voice to the call to end stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness.
For more info on depression and how to help a friend, why not check out some ReachOut.com links on the subject as well…
- Depression types, causes and symptoms (Fact sheet)
- Worried about someone feeling depressed? (Fact sheet)
- I wish life was easy (Video)
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