Black dog isn't really invincible

Indeed, research in North America has found that 60 per cent to 70 per cent of patients with depression respond to initial treatment with monodrug therapy (usually after four to eight weeks of treatment) or to a completed course of psychotherapy (usually 12 to 20 sessions, or about 12 weeks). Of the 30 per cent who do not respond to initial treatment, most will improve via an alternative approach and more than 90 per cent will eventually recover fully. From these statistics we can see that the prognosis of major depression is among the best of any medical disorder of similar severity.

Spreading this message will not prevent depression. Genetic endowment and personal circumstances determine that some of us will be depressive. But what it can do is prevent pain from turning into crisis, by countering prejudice and offering hope through a range of treatment options.

What it also does is place on the community's agenda the whole question of mental health and wellbeing. Life is full of suffering and contradiction, yet we complicate matters further with dysfunctional relationships and unrealisable aspirations. Some of us are able to cope, but too many are not.

This can mean individuals locked up inside themselves, their minds hammering away 24 hours a day, forever on the precipice of panic.

Genetic make-up and upbringing varies from one person to another. This fact of life shouldn't be an issue only for individuals as they try to make sense of it all, but also for governments as they consider their policies and priorities, for employers as they manage their workplaces and for families as they plan their future together.

It's all about greater awareness, individually and as a community.

We can and should better manage the pressures of today, just as we can and should seek a better life in the future.