National Depression Screening Day - the result

On Oct. 9, 2009, the highest ever number of people responded to Calgary Counselling Centre’s National Depression Screening Day campaign.

The campaign this year was more viral – so it was no surprise to us that people found out through the Internet and through Facebook. What surprised us was how many people who heard about the test on the Internet were strongly recommended for further evaluation. Almost 50 per cent of our higher risk test scores come from the Internet.

To us, this reflects how much shame is still felt when people are suffering from depression symptoms. We hope someday this will change. Depression is a treatable, manageable illness. 80 per cent of people with depression are able to recover if they get help.

Calgary Counselling Centre has offered the service for the last five years. Provided free to Calgarians, National Depression Screening Day (NDSD) is a public service, providing education about symptoms of depression, while offering individuals the opportunity to be screened for depression with complete anonymity.

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