[b2tf]

If you are referring to my thread where I asked for advice about how to help a friend with depression I need to clarify that its not actually me that has the issue, rather a friend of mine does and I needed advice from those who had 'been there done that' to make sure I handled the situation in the appropriate way.

Mental illness is a term that is thrown about way too much for my liking and I reckon that it is actually the reason a lot of people don't or won't always admit to themselves they have a problem that requires help. The last thing someone with depression would want is to be labelled as 'mentally ill' - because they're not, their circumstances at the time are impacting on their quality of life, they're not born missing parts or weird.

I'm not sure if I have actually answered your question but I did want to clarify my view on it. Depression is not a mental illness - things like bipolar disorder and schitzophrenia etc are recognised mental illnesses.