How many people are impacted by depression worldwide?

It's October 10th and World Mental Health Day 2017 and many people are experiencing mental health challenges. It's 2017 and we still have a long way to go to address the big gap we have in supporting people with mental illness and providing the care and inclusion they need in our society.

Today is #WorldMentalHealthDay. Let’s take action to promote #mentalhealth in the workplace https://t.co/mtPU4YO2b8 pic.twitter.com/zh8RakaAtW

— WHO (@WHO) October 9, 2017

There is still a strong stigma associated with mental health. People assume that those with mental illness are different than others or they can simply wish away their problems. People with mental health issues can feel and in fact be excluded from regular activities such as finding a job, safe places to live, or can be even be outcasted by their friends, family, or community. These misunderstandings in our society can prevent people from speaking out about their mental health challenges, so many people suffer in silence.

Beyond the personal toll that mental health takes on people's lives, it has an even greater cost to society. Depression is known to be the common cold of mental illnesses, and there are 300 Million people impact by it globally. 

The scale of the challenge is large, and the level of services and funding is limited. We need new solutions to tackle this scale of problem, which is why our mission at CIMHS is to make effective mental health services more accessible to people around the world.

One way we hope to make a dent is through with Bliss our free online therapy program for depression that we've developed over the last few years. We've taken scientifically proven techniques for improving depressed mood and created a free 8 week online therapy program that people can complete on their own. We recognize the major barrier with stigma for seeking help, so people can complete the program anonymously.

Our hope is that once people realize what a therapy program is all about, they are more inclined to seek additional needed help to get back to their healthy selves.

Kasra Zokaei

CIMHS Centre for Interactive Mental Health Solutions

Founder and Executive Director