World Health Day 2017: Depression, let’s talk

World Health Day: Depression, let’s talk; All you need to know about the debilitating disorder

World Health Day is celebrated on 7 April this year and it is centred around the theme ‘Depression: let’s talk’. Cases of depression have ballooned almost 20 percent in the last decade, making the debilitating disorder linked to suicide the leading cause of disability worldwide.

Rates of depression have risen by more than 18 percent since 2005, but a lack of support for mental health combined with a common fear of stigma means many do not get the treatment they need to live healthy and productive lives. Which is why it is important to understand depression and break the stigma around it.

“These new figures are a wake-up call for all countries to rethink their approaches to mental health and to treat it with the urgency that it deserves,” WHO chief Margaret Chan had said in a statement. read more