My depression, your depression
Walk in the shoes of people with lived experience of depression & those who research this condition.
Welcome to ‘My depression, your depression - same name different stories’.
This self-guided walking tour will lead you to a collection of digital stories (3-6 minute videos) that have been created by people with lived experience of depression and researchers who study it. Once you have watched each video, use the 'back' button on your browser to return here.
The suggested walking route takes you around The Meadows in Edinburgh and should last around 1 hour. (NB: There are photos of each location within the gallery for each 'stop', but do not worry about accuracy - just find somewhere that is comfortable for you). However, this walking tour can actually be done anywhere. Just choose a space where you can walk mindfully and pause safely to watch a video. You can watch the videos in any order and/or dip in and out over several days if you prefer.
Background:
Depression is very common, with one in ten people in Scotland diagnosed with the illness at some point in their lives.
But rather than being just one condition - experts believe clinical depression is a collection of different disorders with one common symptom - low mood. The STRADL research project (funded by The Wellcome Trust) aims to find out more about these subtypes of depression and how we might help people build their resilience at all stages of their lives.
Trigger warning: These stories talk about mental health and contain themes such as suicide.
Please look after your own mental health. If it becomes too much, please take a break from the screen. If you need further assistance, please contact Samaritans, who can provide a listening ear. Call 116 123 for free.
This tour has been created by scientists based in the Division of Psychiatry, at the University of Edinburgh. You can find out more about the research at the end of the tour or follow us on social media.
Get Involved in our next project: Depression Detectives
Depression Detectives is a user-led citizen science project which is running until August 2021. It brings together people with lived experience of depression and researchers who study it, as EQUAL partners. We want to make depression research better by listening to and working with non-scientists and putting lived experience at the heart of research.
Depression Detectives participants are quizzing real live scientists (see Q&A write-ups) and discussing where there are gaps in the research. They will then design their own research study, and run it together with researchers. Hopefully they’ll also have some fun and meet some interesting people along the way! Each participant gives as much or as little time as suits them. Read more on the Project Blog or Sign up to take part .
If you would prefer just to follow our progress, why not follow our Facebook Page or sign up to our newsletter ( see form at bottom of blog )
Emptiness
Watch this story on the Patient Voices website. Robin fills the emptiness of depression with the emptiness of cans.
Mindful Walking Activity
As you start to walk try counting your steps up to 10, and then start back at one again.
The whirlwind of adolescent depression
Watch this story on the Patient Voices website. Adolescence is a whirlwind of change for many. Some winds prevail towards mental illness, while others move us towards independence.
Mindful Walking Activity
With each step, try to pay attention to the lifting and falling of your foot.
Understanding, diagnosing, recognising
Watch this story on the Patient Voices website. The unique and individual nature of depression may require a unique and individual intervention. Too often one size does not fit all.
Mindful Walking Activity
As you continue walking, notice movement in your legs and the rest of your body. Notice any shifting of your body from side to side.
Twenty-eight
Watch this story on the Patient Voices website. As Stella moves to a new city, in a new country she feels excited and ready for the challenge. But as emotional and personal losses start to weigh her down, her depression returns..
Mindful Walking Activity
Start to pay attention to sounds without labelling or naming or getting caught up in whether you find them pleasant or unpleasant.
24,039
Watch this story on the Patient Voices website. In his professional life, Anders seeks to bring forth meaning from data contributed by over 24,000 generous volunteers.
Mindful Walking Activity
Without pushing or forcing yourself to feel anything at all, just bring your attention to the sense of smell, whatever you discover.
Mind the gaps
Watch this story on the Patient Voices website Depression brings gaps into Karen’s life. The gaps fracture her life and separate her from meaning and purpose. But they have other effects too – changes to her career, training as a therapist – building something of beauty from those gaps.
Mindful Walking Activity
Now, move your focus to vision: colours and objects and whatever else you see. Patiently coming back each time something grabs your attention
Help me help you
Watch this story on the Patient Voices website. Carys looks for patterns in numbers, to describe the health of our population. The more complete that data set is, the more accurate her findings.
Mindful Walking Activity
Bring your mind back to your feet again, notice them touching the ground. Notice again the movements in your body with each step.
Blue skies
Watch this story on the Patient Voices website. When a young mother-to-be is taken into hospital before the birth of her child, little attention is given to her mental health. Depression becomes a lockdown for her, and it is years before she can appreciate the blue skies again, this time in the middle of another lockdown.
Mindful Walking Activity
Just like before, focus on each individual step. Try counting your steps up to 10, and then start back at one again.
Understanding ageing
Watch this story on the Patient Voices website. Matthew knows that his research into dementia and ageing is unlikely to offer direct treatment benefits to the many elderly people that take part in his research programme.
Postcard to Yourself
What do you want to remember from today or do differently as a result of today?
STRADL - Stratifying Resilience and Depression Longitudinally
STRADL is a large research project which looked into depression, using a combination of genetic techniques, brain imaging and symptom clusters.
Thousands of people who were already part of the Generation Scotland study were invited to complete a mental health questionnaire. A subset of these people were also invited into the clinic to complete some computer-based tasks and have their brain scanned (MRI).
This created a rich databased of information which researchers are using to study depression. When adversity and trauma happen, why do some people remain well, while others become ill? What puts people at higher risk of depression? Which things might be protective or foster resilience? These are the kinds of questions that researchers hope to answer using this Big Data set.
The STRADL project has led to over 100 journal articles so far and over 100 genes have now been linked to depression .
Read more about Data Science research in Scotland at: https://mhdss.ac.uk/
Thank you for taking part in this tour. This is the first year that we've created these self-guided tours and we'd love to know how you found it. We would be grateful if you could spend a couple of minutes completing a short survey about your experience.