PERSONAL stories of depression have been captured as mini documentaries and in artworks to help people recognise the symptoms of a condition that affects more than one million Australians a year.
Four Western Australians feature in the Depression Looks Different for Everybody campaign launched at Mandurah Quay Resort this week in which local artists were commissioned to produce paintings to demonstrate that depression looks different for everybody.
Ashlee-Rose and Cameron represent the Peel region’s most at-risk group: young people aged 16 to 24 who may be challenged by relationship breakdowns, study pressures, unemployment, the fast pace of life or the pressures of social media.
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READ NOWThe artists immersed themselves in the emotions of the participants, channelling their depiction of depression into their artworks and meeting for the first time when the artworks were unveiled.
The result aims to help people recognise depression if it comes up in their lives, or in someone they know, and direct them to the website insidemymind.org.au where they can find useful information on depression and how to get help.
“I think everyone, whenever they come across an issue, wants to be able to overcome it under their own steam, but sometimes we do need help, and there is nothing wrong with that,” said Cameron who battled clinical depression for five years.
The Depression Looks Different for Everybody campaign will run across the Rockingham, Kwinana and Peel area, mainly on social media, to reflect the target audience’s needs.
A complementary campaign will run in the midwest, targeting men aged 25 to 54, another at risk group who suffer from depression, often as a result of social isolation and financial pressures.