It’s thought that one in five Irish people will suffer from depression at some stage in their life. The condition is a complicated one with many symptoms including among others prolonged periods of feeling down, sleeplessness, anxiety, detachment from normal life and lethargy.

Bad weather and stress over finances mean that January can be a particularly hard time to deal with the condition.

On Newstalk Breakfast on Tuesday 24^th January we will discuss what depression is, how it affects people, how effective medication is, and how society can be more understanding of those who suffer from it.

If you would like to share your own personal story of depression, perhaps you have dealt with the condition or somebody in your family has, email the programme breakfast@newstalk.ie.

More about: Abnormal psychology Bipolar spectrum breakfast@newstalk.ie Clinical psychology depression health illness Insomnia lethargy Major depressive disorder Mood disorders Psychology sleeplessness Stress