University of Hong Kong researchers develop Web site to help people who may have depression

University of Hong Kong researchers have developed an animated Web site to help people who may have depression seek help. The researchers created the site after learning through family interviews that many people in Hong Kong who had committed suicide may have had depression but were scared to seek treatment due to stigma. To reach an audience they feared wouldn´t respond well to a Web site that presented straightforward text and dry statistics, the researchers created an animated character, the Depressed Little Prince, who leads visitors through the site on his journey to seek treatment. Since creating the site (http://www.depression.edu.hk), which is in English and Chinese, an increasing number of businesses in Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia are giving talks to employees about depression.