“You may not remember what people do, you may not remember what they say, but you will remember how they make you feel.”

Powerful words and ones spoken from the heart of a man who has been to hell and back.

Michael Burge, a Master Trainer in Mental Health shared his story with a crowd of more than 450 people at the “Tie up the Black Dog” Forum in Goondiwindi last week.

He was one of many speakers who told their stories of living with depression, and most importantly, for those listening, dealing with it and in all cases, seeking help to deal with it.

Depression knows no barriers, makes no favours and is the insidious invader that can tear at the heart and mind of any man, woman and child.

It affects every two people in five and as with cancer, there are very few families that aren’t impacted by this disease.

What is so encouraging about the number of people who turned up to the forum, is their willingness to recognize that mental health is something that should no longer be swept under the carpet.

The old and hackneyed “you’ll be right, or get over it or move on” adage surprisingly is not what someone suffering from depression needs to hear from those nearest and dearest, and especially from themselves.

Having to deal with the suicide of my own father, it is a message that sadly, for our family, wasn’t being screamed out from the rooftops.

We didn’t recognize the symptoms, he didn’t talk, we didn’t understand.

So we live with the guilt, the sadness of losing someone so special.

He should be enjoying his grandchildren, taking them fishing.

So, take another good look at your husband, brother, mother, sister, friend.

Seek advice, there is no easy path, but with help it’s not insurmountable.

Sue and Harry L’Estrange (pictured right) said the forum helped them better understand the trauma they struggled with after a family tragedy.

“This has helped us better understand what we went through.

“We can stress however that we did receive some good counselling, something that helped us all and as has been pointed out tonight, there are plenty of people out there qualified to provide specialized assistance,” Sue said.

Organizer Mary Woods said the support from the community was fantastic with people coming from as far away as Bollon, Brisbane, Toowoomba and Moree.

“The quality of the speakers was outstanding in all fields and the audience was most appreciative of the commitment and the message that they imparted.

“They were of tremendous assistance in making it easier for people to understand how depression and mental illness affects people.

“We conducted an exit survey on the night but ran out of forms. If anyone is keen to fill in one of those they can get them from the Care Goondiwindi office in Marshall Street,” Mary said.