Look ok, feel crap?

Depression Alliance Scotland's 'Look ok, feel crap?' project has a refreshingly direct approach to tackling depression. They offer a 12 week course exploring self-help and constructive ways of approaching the illness.

Since the target is a younger audience, they have supplemented the usual advertising approach of 'leaflets in surgeries' with flyers in nightclubs, posters on the side of buses and an ad on YouTube.  The very high profile campaign has brought in people who might otherwise not seek help.

Ilena Day, who runs Depression Alliance Scotland says 'the emotional well-being of our young adults across the country is of grave concern, as suicide remains the biggest killer of young Scots under the age of 35. As many as 3 out of 4 people who complete suicide do not seek help from a mental health practitioner in the year prior to their death. We know that this work is saving lives.'

The course is based on the materials on www.livinglifetothefull.org and helps users to have a greater understanding of their feelings, to develop practical problem solving skills and look at how to respond in a more useful way to patterns of unhelpful thinking and lifestyle choices. Users of the course are ultimately helping themselves.  Using the internet as a first contact works particularly well with this age group - they are comfortable with the technology, and it allows them to privately admit to and explore their condition before taking the plunge and attending a group. 

The course is being increasingly tailored to suit specific groups, from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organisations, to university students and those with autism.  For many, discovering that other young people like themselves are struggling with the same problem makes the condition more manageable. 

The course may not be a complete answer in itself.  Some people may receive counselling alongside the course, others come for a session or two and realise that they need clinical help.  But look ok, feel crap has helped many and is arguably changing attitudes to depression by its upfront advertising.