Red Deer College students were treated on Monday to expert advice on addiction, health and wellness.

Physician Dr. Gabor Mate spoke in front of a packed Arts Centre yesterday afternoon, offering insight on ways you can fight depression.

Expressing your feelings and having strong relationships were both labeled as steps in battling suicidal thoughts.

Mate said isolating yourself from human interaction is the worst thing you can do to battle the disease.

“We would have never survived evolutionary challenges if we were alone and isolated and non-communicative. Our very nature is based on communication and sociality. That’s who we actually are,” said Mate.

He said depression is caused from suppressing our feelings which often leads to addiction and believes it’s important to talk about how you feel and not being scared to ask for help.

"We need to drop the shame or the stigma of having so-called mental health problems or negative feelings like sadness or anxiety and share them because that’s the way out,” said Mate.

“That’s what I’m mostly hoping, is that people will learn to speak up.”

Mate claims addiction is caused from early-life trauma and the source behind all mental health conditions.