Know depression, know yourself

This campaign of our Foundation covers free workshops for pupils and students. The campaign is supported by such famous and popular people as: Magdalena Stużyńska, Piotr Cyrwus, Izabela Trojanowska, Barbara Wypych, Joanna Moro and Paulina Holtz.

The statistics are alarming – in 2022 as many as 2,031 young people attempted suicide, of which 150 were successful, even worse 85 attempts were by people under 13. Compared to the previous year, this is an increase of almost 40%.

C.G. Jung said that depression is like a woman in black who should be invited in and asked why she came.

Depression can be a path to self-discovery and self-knowledge. To a fuller life. It can be an opportunity to better understand oneself and one’s needs. Depression is said to be a signal that some of our needs remain unmet or some aspects of our life are neglected. You should, therefore, open up to yourself and your “Beautiful Monsters”, as Dr. Tara Goleman said. You should stop and take a look inside yourself. Socrates already emphasized the prominence of the saying “know yourself”, but today, we have forgotten about it. Thus, in line with Jung’s recommendations, our campaign encourages to take a closer look at depression and use it as a medium to better understand yourself.

Our campaign Know depression, Know yourself:

– is based on the assumptions of positive psychology, logotherapy and the so-called third wave of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), DBT, MBCT, ACT, TS;

• helps to identify one’s own assets;
• teaches simple stress reduction techniques;
• leads to better self-understanding;
• was created as a result of cooperation with the Poznan University of Medical Sciences, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and the Spanish Universidad Camilo José Cela Madrid;
• is addressed in particular to young people (pupils and students).

In 2015, Mojs and her colleagues conducted a study using the brief Polish version of the Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale. Their results showed the prevalence of the risk of depression at the level of 20-30%. It is, however, extremely disturbing to compare the findings of Mojs’ study with those conducted as part of A. Lubikowska-Kałek’s doctoral dissertation in 2020-2021. The comparison  shows a twofold growth in the prevalence of the risk of depression – from 20-30% to 50%. Isolation during the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic is considered as one of the contributing factors. But as many years of research on people with high stress, depression or anxiety disorders have shown, combining pharmacotherapy and mind-body interventions is an effective way to help young patients with depression.To this end, it is crucial to support young people by presenting them with simple and universally applicable preventive measures that would support and minimize the risk of depression. Additionally, we should prevent their further isolation and shielding by giving them the possibility to participate in educational, preventive workshops that strengthen their resilience, socialization and bonds.The activities of our Foundation are based on the assumption of supporting students’ mental assets to prevent mental illness and depression.