The numbers are alarming.
According to the World Health Organization, 350 million people worldwide live with depression.
In Canada, depression contributes to about 4,000 suicides every year. That averages out to 11 people each day.
It’s a terrifying statistic for Cheryl Brock.
“It is always on the back of your mind, you’re always wondering are they OK, are they talking to me, is today going to be the day maybe they feel they just can’t deal with it anymore,” Brock told Global News. “And that could end tragically with suicide which is something nobody wants.”
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The Penticton woman doesn’t have depression but her 20-year-old son does and it impacts her greatly.
“It impacts me every second of the day,” she said.
She said she constantly worries about his well-being.
Both she and her son have sought help at Penticton’s Mental Wellness Centre, which offers all kinds of support meetings.
“It has been amazing, life changing,” she said. “If we didn’t have the funding for that and if we didn’t have that I would have a more difficult time to deal with my son’s situation.”
To help raise awareness about depression and what many say is badly-needed funding to treat it, the Mental Wellness Centre is gearing up for its 7th annual Walk to Defeat Depression.
“We need more services, resources,” Obi Oniah,who works at the Mental Wellness Centre, said. “Personally working with a lot of families and people affected in our community, I can say there’s not enough for them in our community, which is really, really sad.”
The Walk to Defeat Depression takes place at Rotary Park on Saturday, Sept. 29, starting at 1 p.m.
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