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WHO has listed cardiovascular diseases, depression and AIDS as the top three diseases the world should keep an eye on in 2020, with depression ranking second in taking human lives. Around 3% of the global population suffers from depression, indicating that 200 million people are lost in the deep blue valley. The probability of women suffering from depression is twice of men, meaning one out of every five ladies face the crisis of a depression attack. What’s more disheartening is two thirds of those suffering from depression have suicidal thoughts and 10 to 15% of them commit it.
What is the reason behind this inescapable blue valley?
The life prevalence rate of severe depression reaches 1.2% in Taiwan, meaning that approximately 280 thousand people are tortured by it, with only a third seeking medical assistance. One of the reasons the treatment rate for depression is so low is due to social stigmatization. According to the “Global Suicide Prevention” report issued by the WHO in 2014, the majority of melancholics choose to hide their emotions for they fear their physical and mental conditions would be regarded as a disgrace. Attempted suicide occurs when melancholics are worried people judge them to be weak, lazy and self disturbing, so they don’t know who to open up to.
On the other hand, you might have uttered these words to your melancholic friends. “Cheer up” and “You are just overreacting.” Yet it is precisely the incapability to control that traps them in the infinite loop of grief.
How can we help?
Depression is like the soul’s flu. Through effective treatment, 80% of the patients will improve within two months. What we can do is simply offering to chat with them or workout together and assist them in driving away the dark clouds hovering above their heads.
No more, ”Cheer up, you are overreacting.”
Video produced by The News Lens Video Team
Translated by Wade Cheng
Edited by Olivia Yang