Everywhere we look, we can see some form of these two common conditions. Most adults, (and some children too) in today’s world have experienced some level of depression and/or anxiety. We are exposed to huge levels of bad news in the media. While that has always been the case with the media, it’s a long time since it has just been newspapers and the radio. The media itself has grown enormously to include TV, with its multitude of news channels and documentaries about disasters, as well as other forms of electronic media.

I don’t think it necessarily means that more bad things are happening in the world, but that we are constantly being exposed to them in the form of print and video clips.

It is a struggle for many families to survive on one income, and house prices have moved out of the reach of many people. Jobs are less secure, and the pressure is on everyone to become better qualified to try and secure the jobs. Is it any wonder that people worry, feel powerless and get low in mood?

However, even people who don’t have these particular worries can be anxious and depressed. People who seem to be successful, at the top of their game, who don’t seem to have the ordinary money worries that most of us think of, even they can be struggling, eg, the big number of professional sportspeople we have heard on the news lately. I really admire their bravery in being so public. They too can struggle with low mood, worries about relationships, health and injury issues etc. I know there have been times in my own life when I have thought to myself, Oh sh.. , what do I do now? How the hell do I sort this out? How long will this go on for?

There is hope, and there is help out there. One of the things that gives me hope for our society, is that at long last we are starting to talk openly about anxiety and depression, and to recognise how common they are. We need to stop thinking about these conditions in terms of mental illness. In some situations, it would be abnormal not to feel anxious and/or depressed.

Let’s get rid of the stigma and start thinking of it as a normal response to difficult situations.

There is no getting around it – sometimes life is just hard. What we have to consider though, is what do we need to have, or to do, in order to make our lives more bearable right now, and what do we need to do in order to ensure that we keep heading in the right direction?

Mostly, I think people need to have someone they can openly talk to and know that they will be listened to carefully, that the person will try to understand how they feel without making any judgements. Sometimes that could be a partner or a friend, but sometimes we need to talk to someone completely outside of the situation, and who is trained and experienced with these things.

Sometimes medication can help, but medication by itself doesn’t solve the issues that are causing the distress. It is a normal part of the human condition to want to be respected, valued and understood, and when we don’t get those things, we suffer. That’s when depression and anxiety can creep up on us and catch us unawares. That’s when a good therapist is worth their weight in gold!