The lead vest lying on my shoulders weighs ten kilograms.

I put the virtual reality glasses on my head and the headphones on my ears to immerse myself in another reality, like in a video game.

Suddenly I find myself in a loft-like bedroom.

My gaze wanders around the room.

There is great disorder.

Shoes are lying around, clothes have been carelessly thrown on the floor.

The light is dim, everything looks gray in gray.

For the next quarter of an hour, I exchange my own ego for that of a person who is not doing well at all.

Because I'm visually in his environment, I feel like I'm in his skin.

An off-screen voice speaks the thoughts of a fictitious patient.

Ina Lockhart

Editor on duty at FAZ.NET.

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Now I'm sitting here on the edge of the bed again and have been trying to get up for the past hour.

The same every morning.

And that for a month.

I didn't sleep properly either.

My thoughts keep me awake.

It's always the same, circling in my head and pulling me into a downward spiral.

I feel totally drained.

I just don't have the strength to get up from the bed.

Next I would have to go up the stairs.

Deciding what to have for breakfast.

It really doesn't matter what I eat.

Everything tastes the same.

And I'm not hungry either.

All these decisions – they stress me out, they put me under pressure.

A woman's voice: "Are you still in bed?

Pull yourself together and finally get up!

I've been jogging, showered, had breakfast and now I'm going to work."

My wife.

Now she's gone.

Let's see when she's gone completely.

No partner can do that anymore.

Who wants to live with me or spend time with me?

Nothing changes for me.

Nothing gets better, everything just gets worse.

My smartphone beeps.

A message: "How are you?

Take all the time you need to get better and get back to your job.

We miss you!

Your colleagues"

To work?

For me unimaginable.

I can't even pull myself together and tidy up this room.

Not for days.

How am I supposed to find the drive to get up, get dressed, and drive to work every morning?

That's when things really get going with meeting dates and deadlines.

Colleagues only mean well when they get in touch.

But her message scares me.

And makes me realize that I don't work anymore.

Something broke in me.

My wife, my colleagues - they live in a world that is becoming more and more closed to me.

I feel like I'm trapped in a long black tunnel that's getting narrower and narrower.

The light I see at the end is getting weaker and farther away.

According to estimates by the German Depression Aid, around 5.3 million people in Germany experience what is happening this Saturday in Seligenstadt near Frankfurt in the parish hall of the Catholic St. Marien parish in virtual reality glasses in front of the eyes of interested visitors : a depression that requires professional support.

Actually.

In reality, only a minority receive optimal treatment for this condition, which is the most underestimated in its severity.

Statistically, every fifth person suffers from it once in their life.

Underestimated widespread disease

Depression is a mental disorder.

It is abstract and at the same time very present in our society.

As long as everyone is willing to look closely and impartially.

Depression is not a classic physical illness that can be clearly diagnosed with targeted examinations and laboratory tests.

Relatives of those affected often speak of "mental cancer" and want to make it clear that depression can be just as life-threatening as cancer.

Because depression is so difficult to grasp rationally, manifests itself in a variety of symptoms and can temporarily change the personality of those affected, initiator and psychotherapist Marion Sehr and the Robert Enke Foundation teamed up this weekend in Seligenstadt to