What can I say, in our society, talking about sexually transmitted diseases is less embarrassing than talking about depression and bipolar disorder.

Depression and bipolar disorder (BAD) are not detected during medical examinations.
For society, they seem to not exist.

Three-quarters of people in Europe suffering from major depression do not receive adequate treatment, according to official WHO data.
In Russia, the situation is even worse if we take into account a number of factors: the low level of domestic psychiatry, the greater secrecy of the topic of mental disorders, and the official suicide statistics. Russia ranks first in the number of suicides among young people and second in the absolute number of suicides, after China, where the population is 10 times larger.
God forbid, if one in twenty receives adequate treatment.

By adequate treatment, I do NOT mean the classic Soviet cocktails of antipsychotics that turn a person into a plant, depriving him of thinking, feelings and chances for a full life. I came across such cases very closely, and I myself had great chances to become one of them.

Most—friends and family alike—would say “get it together, rag” to a depressed teenager instead of advising them to see a therapist, let alone accept the idea that it might be necessary to take antidepressants.

A person with depression or bipolar disorder is the opposite of the classic Dale Carnegie image of a successful person – always positive, disciplined, “no problem.” An image that is broadcast from all screens and covers.

Therefore, most hide these diseases even from themselves.

Many people with clinical depression or type 2 bipolar disorder (i.e., those with more weight in the depressive phase) believe that they are simply not strong enough, weak-willed.
They hate themselves for weakness, for a thousand of their shortcomings – after all, with depression, all the shortcomings are as if under a magnifying glass, and it is incredibly difficult to find something good in yourself.
They try to compensate for their “weakness” with a visual simulation of normal life for the environment and motivational literature.
Or they leave reality for games, series, fiction – and prefer to return to reality as rarely as possible.

Yes, mild situational depression can go away on its own. But between light and heavy – the abyss. One of the key differences is that major depression progresses if left untreated.

It’s like a person with cancer instead of running marathons to prove to everyone and to himself that he is healthy.
What will be the result?

Looking at the suicide statistics, it’s clear that more people die each year from undiagnosed depression and bipolar disorder than have died from the coronavirus at the time of this writing.
Only about the coronavirus – at every step, quarantine and self-isolation, but about mental disorders – as if they do not exist.

To solve any serious problem, you must first recognize that it exists. It’s the same with depression/BAD. It is important to diagnose them and, if they exist, accept this fact as a starting point.