Depression seems to be winning the fight - there is a long list of celebrities, from Tony Hancock to Charlotte Dawson and now Robin Williams, who have taken their own lives. Nearly all these people have apparently been in the grip of the "black dog of depression".
There are pharmaceutical treatments that have been successful - so long as patients keep taking the pills. Even the much maligned "shock treatment" has its proponents.
Electro-convulsive therapy, or ECT, has had success in shifting people from a near-vegetative state back to normal health.
Back in the bad old days of Lake Alice shock treatment was often given as a punishment - it left patients in agony with every muscle in their bodies tortured by spasms. Nowadays ECT is given under a general anaesthetic with appropriate muscle relaxants. Apparently the voltage gives the brain something like an elliptic seizure and a "reboot", but no-one really knows why it works - it just does.
It seems that the type of personality which makes a good artist or comedian may be particularly prone to depression, manic behaviour - and suicide. Even Winston Churchill said he couldn't stand too close to an express train rushing by - the temptation to throw himself under it was too strong.
Doctors have trouble diagnosing depression because so many people habitually hide their true condition - putting on a brave face and a cheery smile, embarrassed to say how they feel because it could be seen as weakness.
I know men who will complain of nothing less than a bullet through the shoulder for fear of showing weakness.
Walk into any coffee bar and you will notice that most women have no problem sharing their feelings. But men aren't often in a situation where they can share their feelings with other men - or even know men they can talk to. Some "friends" might just tell them, "Come on, snap out of it", or to "toughen up, mate". Not ideal.
Blokes such as farmers working on their own are particularly susceptible - and the more depressed they get the more they can cut themselves off. Talk about a death spiral.
Men need to spend time with other men, time where they can "go deep" and talk about the important stuff. Even more important than whether Dan will make the next test. Men getting together with men.
So, ladies, just as you need your girlfriends, remember that your men need their own friends as much as or more than you do.
I started my own men's group - perhaps your men need to start theirs. If I get any interest I may write about this. Watch this space.
Chris Northover is a Wanganui-based former corporate lawyer who has worked in the fields of aviation, tourism, health and the environment.
