Hypersomnia or oversleeping is one of the most telling signs of chronic depression. Due to the stigmas associated with mental health issues in the Middle East, over 66% of all cases go undiagnosed. Awareness is lacking and people mistake the symptoms of depression as flaws in themselves.

Dubai Science Park is a community for healthcare businesses and professionals. Medical health is an important aspect for them, and they want to steadily progress this conversation and raise awareness.

The insight: Depression is not your fault. When symptoms of depression are left undiagnosed, they can dig you deeper into self-doubt and push you further away from recovery. Our message reminded them that what they’re going through is not their fault, and that it could be a symptom of a chronic illness. Each ad directed people to a PHQ-9 test to determine if they should seek professional help.

To visualise how undiagnosed depression can incapacitate you and make you feel trapped in self-doubt, we collaborated with an artist who has grappled with mental health challenges herself. She could instantly empathise with the issue and was excited to help us bring the campaign to life. Together, we created 3 provocative visuals. Illustrated by hand and then coloured digitally using hues that evoke an emotional response. The feeling of being stuck in a vicious cycle of self-doubt was metaphorically represented using a bed:

1. Closing in on the person like a bear trap

2. Constricting and suffocating the human

3. Sucking the human into an empty void

In the Arab world, it is estimated that 17.7% of the total population suffers from depression and this figure is only the tip of the iceberg, because not everyone with mental health problems comes forward to seek treatment, due to the stigmas associated with mental health diseases. There is a dire need for awareness in the region.