People suffering from depression rarely look for professional help, but even when they do it, it is usually when their condition becomes unbearable and when they experience ’burn out', this was the conclusion of the panel discussion 'A Cup of Coffee with a Psychologist' held on the occasion of the World Mental Health Day before crowded Dorćol Platz hall.

Panel discussion participant whose topic was ‘Life with Depression’, Tijana Mirović PhD, psychologist and psychotherapist, explained that the first symptoms of depression are insomnia, mood swings, loss of concentration and added that it is necessary for these symptoms to be present for some time in order to establish the existence of depression.



'People rarely seek help because at first they don't know what is happening to them, they are scared and confused, they start thinking that they don't sleep because they had a little more stress at work and thus minimize what they really feel.' It is not easy to go, sit down and tell someone facing you about your problems. People sometimes first complain about their state to people around them, and then it is very important that those people do not react in a way 'it's okay, everyone is depressed these days', she said and added that it is always best to ask people who suffer from depression in what way someone could support them and what would make them feel better.

’Fearing the reaction of the people around them, people keep their feelings to themselves for too long and go to a psychologist when it is really urgent - when they feel that they really have to seek help now. Never have there been more people with problems and never more talk about positive thinking ', said Mirović.

Journalist and author of the book 'Out of your Skin: Life with Depression' Aleksandar Stanković said that he first noticed psychophysical manifestations, i.e. a 'depression attack' two days after he received the journalist award in Croatia because 'I couldn't sleep, during the day I somehow managed it, but I had no concentration, my hands were shaking, I couldn't eat, I was tormented by dark thoughts and then I told my wife that something was wrong with me, that I couldn't live like this and that I had to seek professional help. I was diagnosed with a moderately severe depression with a recommendation to start psychotherapy and take pharmacotherapy.'



Stanković added that one of the reasons why he wrote the book 'is that I wanted to help everyone struggling with depression, because the experiences of other people meant a lot to me when it was most difficult for me. When you say you're depressed, 80 percent of people will think you're in a bad mood, that it will pass, that you should go for a run, that you will feel better. Depression is not a disease that will heal by running, it is a disease that one has to deal with seriously.

Journalist and writer Branko Rosić approached the topic from the perspective of the presence of depression in popular culture, saying that this topic is not a rare thing, but that in this region depression has always been linked to social status.

'I remembered, since I grew up in the time of socialism, how Yugoslavia was always an ideal country and how we always learned about its mineral wealth, the indentation of our coast, while the Italian coast was quite the opposite. At that time, everybody was saying that Americans had a problem with insomnia and that everyone went to a psychiatrist, while for us, everything was great, we slept well without any sleeping pills', said Rosić and added that now that we live in capitalism, it has become popular to have your own shrink just as it was popular not to have one during socialism.



Tijana Mirović, PhD, psychologist and psychotherapist, concluded that 'it is a heroic act when a man from this region, who is also a public figure, describes in his book, life with depression loud and clear and based on his own experience.' 'Not all of us can do what Aleksandar Stankovic did, but we can work to normalize vulnerability, break down prejudices and foster empathy, compassion and solidarity.' We can reach out to people and help them to get out of the gutter, out of the stigma and darkness together', Mirović concluded.



The panel discussion ’A Cup Of Coffee with a Psychologist’ is a part of the campaign for fighting depression and stigma ’Unbreakables’ through which more than 17,000 people received help and support of experts, psychologists and psychiatrists working for SOS line 0800 001 002. The help and support provided by the specialists of the Special Hospital for Psychiatric Diseases in Vršac, Kovin and Gornja Toponica are free, anonymous and available 24/7.