Seen from the outside, she has a carefree life.

The job is well paid, their partnership harmonious, the children are healthy.

She has a large circle of friends, finds time to pursue her hobbies and likes to travel.

But for a few weeks she has lacked the strength to take part in life.

She finds it difficult to get up.

She can't get out of bed in the morning and doesn't get any rest at night.

Her doctor has diagnosed her with depression.

You of all people!

She suspects that he might be right.

Those around you find it difficult to understand the diagnosis.

After all, she should be fine in her carefree life.

Marie Lisa Kehler

Deputy head of the regional section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

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Ulrich Hegerl wants to clear up misconceptions like these.

The psychiatrist and chairman of the German Depression Aid Foundation is committed to a better understanding of depression.

In most cases, it is not a special event, such as a separation or being overwhelmed at work, that is the main reason for the outbreak of the disease, but a predisposition that can be inherited, but also acquired through trauma in childhood.

"Environmental factors can play a role, but are drastically overestimated," he says.

Hasty judgments

According to his experience, stress, experiences of loss or other negative life circumstances that precede the illness are often seen prematurely as the cause of depression.

According to Hegerl, many sufferers who follow this explanation approach therefore do not find it sensible to take antidepressants.

After all, these do not eliminate the problems.

According to the psychiatrist, those affected often lose a lot of time before they realize that depression is also associated with altered brain functions.

Antidepressants are a means of normalizing pathological mechanisms in the brain.

"Because depression is always associated with exhaustion and feeling overwhelmed at work, the temptation to mistake work overload as the cause of depression is almost irresistible.

According to Hegerl, antidepressants are the most important treatment pillar alongside psychotherapy.

Many problems that seemed overwhelming and unsolvable in the depressive phase would become part of the sometimes bitter but manageable life under treatment.

Recognizing the central importance of the predisposition is important in order to reduce the self-stigmatization of those affected.

"When people understand that they are unlucky enough to have had the predisposition to this bloody stupid disease, then the feelings of guilt and the self-blame of being too weak, of not having worked through the problems, fall away."

Hegerl, who has held a professorship at the Clinic for Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy at Frankfurt University Hospital since 2019, wants to get through to patients and their families with messages like these.

For this reason, too, the foundation, in cooperation with the German Depression League, is organizing a patient congress on the subject of depression this Saturday in the Alte Oper.

It should give those affected and their relatives the opportunity to find out more about the disease, its many faces, the latest research findings and treatment options.

But also to meet and exchange ideas.

"A meeting like this shows people that they are not a strange exception," says the psychiatrist.

It can also help relatives to network and learn more about the disease.

Many people are affected

The patient congress includes lectures, discussions, readings and cultural activities that deal with different aspects of the disease.

Harald Schmidt, patron of the German Depression Aid Foundation, will moderate the congress.

“The disease affects many people, and there are very different ways out of depression.

For me, that's the strongest sign coming from the Depression Patients' Congress," he says.

According to Hegerl, around five million people in Germany suffer from depression that requires treatment.

Corona did not necessarily cause the number of patients to skyrocket, but in many cases it made the disease worse.

This was the result of a Germany-wide representative survey by the German Depression Aid Foundation.

More than a third of the survey participants who fell ill said they had experienced a worsening of their symptoms during the pandemic.

According to Hegerl, there are many reasons for this.

Canceled meetings of self-help groups, canceled sports activities, fears of leaving the house to keep appointments with psychiatrists and psychotherapists.

In many cases, prescriptions were no longer redeemed and medication was no longer taken.

When it comes to education on the subject of depression, “there is still a lot of room for improvement,” says Hegerl.

He hopes to reach many of those affected with the congress on Saturday.

“The frequency of diagnosis has increased.

But we no longer have people who are depressed, we have more people who seek help.

Because the stigma has lessened, because doctors recognize it better, because it is no longer hidden as often.” In order to reduce bottlenecks in patient care, the next few years must be about approving more specialists in the field , as well as to expand digital supply offers.

The German Depression Patients' Congress will take place on Saturday, June 4th in the Alte Oper.

Tickets and information are available at www.deutsche-depressionshilfe.de/kongress