Just under a month ago, on October 10, Jamaican professionals in the field of clinical psychology and psychiatry joined their colleagues overseas in observing World Mental Health Day using the occasion to raise public awareness about the various forms and aspects of mental disorders.

The tragic death of Carol Waldron and her two children last weekend, in what is believed to be a case of murder-suicide, has thrown the public spotlight on the increasing need for more information on how to deal with mental illness and associated disorders.

The details of what happened in Mrs. Waldron's hotel room are still being pieced together by police investigators. However, on the basis of what has been reported to date, including the discovery of a seven-page suicide note pointing to marital problems, Mrs. Waldron was, indeed, a very troubled woman.

Psychiatrists and clinical psychologists inform us that among the many forms of mental disorders are schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, clinical and post-partum depression. To a great extent, the Jamaican public is just beginning to become familiar with or to be able to put a name to the manifestation of some of these illnesses.While we are in no position to say at this stage, which, if any, applied to Mrs. Waldron, as a society, we can explore the circumstances of her tragic passing to examine some of these illnesses and, hopefully, begin to explore ways to address them in a more informed way.

Among the many issues to be addressed are recognising signs of depression and seeking help to deal with it. There is also the stigma of shame with which individuals and families struggle once there is the discovery of mental illness in their midst. Any sign of mental illness is often immediately diagnosed as 'madness' evoking a response of either alienation or ridicule. Affected families often wrestle not only with a lack of information about coping mechanisms, but also the fear of how they will be perceived once the discovery is made public.

Bipolar disorder and post-partum depression are relatively unfamiliar terms to most Jamaicans - yet, when examples of their manifestations are shared in public settings, many people can readily recall instances when they have had to deal with them, sometimes in a very personal way. In our shared humanity, the best way to address these challenges is to shed light on the phenomenon by way of public discussion, hopefully with less prejudice and ignorance.

Our society is slowly evolving in its attitudes of openness in discussing problems in a way that is more common to metropolitan societies. Yet, Jamaican cultural norms are not stuck in a time-zone. The close-knit communities of times past are being overtaken more and more by apartment complexes and townhouses. While people may be living in closer proximity, increasingly they know little about and care little for each other. We suspect that these situations encourage more people to suffer in silence when dealing with problems like depression.

But as Dr. Wendel Abel, consultant psychiatrist and Gleaner health columnist, shared in a recent article, the best ways for persons affected to deal with mental disorder are to accept the reality of the illness, talk about it and to seek treatment.