National Depression Screening Day

Today is National Depression Screening Day. I know. And you thought it was just Leif Erikson Day. Oh hvor feil du er, min venn.

National Depression Screening Day was started in 1991 to help people learn more about depression and provide screening and treatment referrals for anyone concerned about it.

It’s a terrible disease fraught with stigma and shame but hopefully that is changing. Depression is more widespread than people know. It is more common than AIDS, cancer, and diabetes combined and globally more than 350 million suffer from depression.

A good friend of mine lost her best friend this year to depression. It was a terrible loss and from the outside it looked like nothing was wrong with her. But the depression won and she took her life. Just over a year ago I tried to kill myself as well. I suppose from the outside I looked fine as well. Not handsome, but certainly not suffering from a mental illness. Inside, however, it was a different story. When the disease was at its worse my mind was a terrible place to be.

I found this stock image on US News and World Report. It’s gloriously cheesy.

There Is Help

I suffer from depressive disorder, anxiety disorder. Obsessive Compulsive disorder and BiPolar 2. It was the BiPolar 2 diagnosis that saved my life. For decades I was being treated for depression and anxiety but when I was finally put on treatment for BiPolar 2 everything changed. It’s still a day to day affair but I’m doing much much better. And it truly was the discovery of the BiPolar 2 that made all the difference.

So I encourage you to to visit Help Yourself Help Others to find a a screening site. Sad to say there are few places to go for a screening. Here in California I think there are only 7 places to get screened. But you can take an online screening at Help Yourself Help Others.

If you suspect that you may suffer from depression, or a family member or a friend, I urge you to get a screening today. There’s no shame. No stigma. Only good health.