Sir, - Medb Ruane raises many substantive questions in her excellent column, "Society has evolved an unspoken rule to shun depression" (Opinion, June 28th). Two issues deserve an immediate and in-depth analysis by our politicians and our medical professionals: the difficulties facing medics in getting to grips with the problem; and the unaccounted economic cost of ignoring depression.
Depression in the workplace, and indeed in the home, is difficult to diagnose or measure, especially because sufferers often do not realise it themselves. Doctors are unfortunately in a poor position to offer help because many of them are overworked, and stressed and may themselves be suffering from depression: a patient seeking help from his GP may now be less ill or depressed than his physician.
In this week of the Telecom flotation our politicians and financial institutions are falling over themselves to splash millions for our communications system of the next millennium. Instant communication via telephone, internet, fax and electronic transfers have been the fuel of the Celtic Tiger. Unfortunately our Tiger's heart and spirit is suffering from a related technological, psychological and cultural cancer. Depression thrives in the modern impersonal, harsh and lonely commercial world of "sending messages and avoiding people." And managerial communications such as "I want it done yesterday", tend to exacerbate the problem.
Depression may not be immediately evident in the workplace. There is a misconception that the cold grip of such states can be avoided by working even harder.
However one fact is clear: depression in the workplace effects everybody and not just the immediate sufferer. It takes no more than just one colleague who is over-stressed or in a clinical state of depression to bring the atmosphere and spirit of an entire company to its knees. Again this cost is immeasurable in both human and economic terms. This is inexcusable since most depression can be treated effectively and inexpensively.
During the next few months, millions of hard earned pounds, shillings and pence will be poured into programmes to eradicate the millennium bug which could see our state-of-the-art technologies end in tears. So much for economic priorities. And yet the cold silent tears will continue to invisibly flow. - Yours, etc., Ciaran Walsh, Manager,
The Wellman Clinic, Eccles Street, Dublin 7.