SEEKING HELP

Seeking help may be difficult, but it is the first step to overcoming depression. It is important to do it quickly because an early intervention can often prevent depression from worsening and shorten the duration of an episode. Without help most people will recover from depression eventually, but they may endure many months or years of unnecessary suffering.

Your first step may be to confide in a friend or family member, but the sooner that you talk to your GP about how you are feeling the sooner you will be able to get professional support and advice, and access a range of treatment options.

It can be difficult to approach your GP when you are concerned about yourmental health as you may believe that it’s less important than a physical health problem, be embarrassed or feel like you’re overreacting.  But it is just as important that we look after our mental health as our physical health and your GP will understand this.  Doctors see many people who are experiencing mental health problems on a daily basis and will be used to dealing with them.