Resources for journalists
If you are a journalist interested in covering issues related to depression, here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Find out about the prevalence of depression and what services are available in your country.
- What is the perception of depression in your country? Are perceptions changing?
- Which organizations are involved in activities for better mental health? In what areas have they been successful? What are the challenges?
Reach out to government information offices, the WHO office and other organizations working in the mental health field in your country.
Here are some resources to get you started:
Depression and other common mental disorders. Global health estimates
Provides latest available estimates of the prevalence of depression and other common mental disorders at the global and regional level, together with data concerning the consequences of these disorders in terms of lost health.
- Mental health atlas
Brings together data from around the world to give a picture of resources available in countries for mental health, and how those resources are evolving over time
- Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020
Adopted at the World Health Assembly, the Plan serves as a guide for improvement of mental health services around the world in the period to 2020. It includes objectives, progress indicators and proposed actions for governments, international and national partners and WHO
- WHO’s MiNDbank
Provides access to national policies, strategies and law on mental health and substance abuse by country
- WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) - version 2
mhGAP aims to help country authorities scale up services for mental, neurological and substance use disorders, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The mhGAP Intervention Guide for use in non-specialized health settings is a core resource of the programme. Developed for health-care workers providing care to people with mental health disorders, it provides evidence-based recommendations on care for specific disorders, including depression
- Background paper developed for World Bank/WHO event "Out of the shadows: making mental health a global development priority"
Includes chapters: the case for investing in mental health; dealing with common mental disorders; treatment settings and integration; and resource gaps, funding options and proposals for the future.
- Scaling-up treatment of depression and anxiety: a global return on investment analysis
Published in the Lancet Psychiatry, April 2016
Videos
- I had a black dog, his name was depression
- Living with a black dog
- Video: Making mental health a development priority
Infographics