Facing depression, fighting the stigma

In Europe, 84 million individuals have experienced Mental Health issues – that is to say, more than one out of six people are affected by mental disorders. Moreover, 84.000 annual deaths are caused by mental illness or suicide. According to these figures, Mental Health disorders are at the 5^th place among the most common non-communicable diseases and represent 22.4% of the European’s burden of disability. On top of that, the current Covid-19 pandemic has been affecting everyone’s mental health in unprecedented and dramatic ways.

For over forty years, Angelini Pharma has been committed to projects and initiatives that aim to raise awareness about mental health and combat the stigma that still affects people with mental disorders. While the pandemic is subverting our way to conceive daily life, it is also offering the opportunity to trigger a change in society so that it is possible to fully understand the importance of a correct treatment of mental disorders, which are rarely outstanding but as relevant as physical ones.

In the frame of its mental health-related activities, Angelini Pharma designed and promoted a disease awareness campaign on depression addressed to patients and their caregivers. The overall aim is to sensitize clinicians and general population on the importance of early diagnosis while proving convenient information on symptoms that may occur.

As a matter of fact, awareness about mental state and the consequent search for medical support is a crucial step for a timely and effective management of the disease: delays or lack in this pathway can potentially cause irreparable damages to the lives of patients and people close to them.

The initiative resulted from a fruitful teamwork by multiple corporate functions that identified 4 patient profiles through dedicated workshops. The selected profiles stemmed from a market survey, whose results have been validated by an Advisory Board consisting of 5 international key opinion leaders.

More specifically, the four profiles told four different stories of depression through as many voices: a menopausal woman’s, a young man’s, the one of a person suffering from a chronic disease and another one belonging to a person suffering from anger attacks. In other words, experiences which anyone could identify with.

The campaign includes also downloadable posters that address various aspects of the lives of people with depression.

The initiative’s purpose is to state clear messages about depression: prevention and therapy can and must be a solution; it is easier to ask for help if you are affected by such disorder and you are not stigmatized.

Angelini Pharma is committed to support patients along their journey through the process leading to awareness, acceptance, and treatment of depression.

Every journey, even the longest, always begins with a simple first step: "Talk to your doctor".