Ref. 29490-18This week, the Advertiser covered two very different stories touching on depression. James Brett is a young man who battled his illness and is now a successful businessman, while Carl Anderson tragically lost his life to depression. GILES SHELDRICK looks at this silent epidemic and why it is men who are all too often the victims.

DEPRESSED men in Swindon are suffering in silence and not seeking help for their condition, according to one of the town's mental health advisors.

Kathleen Aitken, manager of Swindon MIND the national mental health charity, says men will often try and hide their symptoms from friends and family and hit the bottle instead.

Depression is now the most common mental health complaint in the western world and the majority of the 1,000 or so people the Regent Circus-based drop-in centre sees every year are women.

Mrs Aitken, 60, said: "Men find it incredibly difficult to talk and are twice as likely to kill themselves as women. One of the things that has increased dramatically is the use of antidepressants it's phenomenal but we are living in a world of instant fixes.

"Men find it incredibly difficult to be open about how they are feeling and turn to alcohol. Depression is a term banded about frequently but most people will not get a smooth ride through life.

"There are options for people and there is help.

"When people become depressed they stop seeing the options, but we are always here and there are always choices it's certainly nothing to be ashamed of."

This week, the Advertiser reported how a spiral of depression was blamed for the death of Wroughton father-of-two Carl Anderson, the man whose decomposed body was found earlier this month.

Mr Anderson, 38, had a breakdown after his marriage collapsed four years ago and disappeared from the family home.

His body was found by schoolchildren under a hedge in Akers Way earlier this month.

His father, Frank, said his son died of a broken heart and he could have turned to any of his family, but chose to suffer in silence.

Swindon Primary Care Trust clinical psychologist, Liz Howells, said: "People feel negative about things going on around them, guilty and pessimistic about everything and get no pleasure from anything.

"Over a lifetime, 50 per cent of men and 25 per cent of women will become depressed and at any one time one in six people are working with mental health problems."

On Wednesday, Swindonian James Brett told the Advertiser how a series of family tragedies led to him becoming depressed and dabble with soft drugs.

For more than a year he lived rough in woodland and scavenged for food.

Today, the 34-year-old is the brain behind Pomegreat a pomegranate fruit juice being sold in supermarkets up and down the country.

Anyone suffering from depression should in the first instance book an appointment with their GP, but can call local mental health charities Swindon MIND on 01793 432031 or Swindon Focus on 01793 531133.

Giles Sheldrick