AS the Lancashire Telegraph health reporter, BEN BUTLER reports on all matter of issues regarding the NHS and people's battles with illness. Today, he opens up about his own mental health problems and experiences, first hand, with local services...

IT was when I was just 20 years of age that I first experienced the dreadful and debilitating feeling of depression.

Seven years later at 27, I still endure a constant daily battle with that dark cloud in my head, capable of sinking all the happiness out of me.

Depression can affect everything from my personal hygiene to my ability to perform even the most basic of tasks such as washing dishes.

You wake up in the morning and you don't want to get out of bed, and you go to sleep at night and can't switch off as your mind is in overdrive.

It is a constant cycle like a song on repeat that never goes away and is always with you however hard you try to get away from it.

The worst thing about it is it makes you think you're never good enough, so I will compare myself to other people such as friends, family and work colleagues and consider myself inadequate in comparison to them.

You can get constructively criticised in work and take it the wrong way and beat yourself up about it and think you're not good enough to do your job.

All of this can be incredibly difficult to deal with, so I have had evenings where I have overindulged with food and had the odd drink too many.

It's all incredibly frustrating and can make you feel quite angry and I hate myself for it sometimes, as I say to myself, why am I depressed?

I have a degree and am doing the job of my dreams as a journalist yet I'm depressed. It just really does go to show that it can happen to anyone regardless of social class or income.

To cope, I've been having regular trips to my GP where I will be given anti-depressants such as Fluoxetine, Citalopram and Sertraline.

Medication does make a difference in alleviating the symptoms of depression and anxiety but as I found out last year, anti-depressants alone are no magic cure.

Last year, I reached a real low where I had to admit myself to A&E at Royal Preston Hospital as I had been feeling suicidal. It saw me have to take four weeks off work and my employer has been incredibly supportive throughout.

After being triaged at A&E and waiting for a couple of hours, I was seen by a mental health professional and was given the support I needed.

I was then referred by my doctor to Mindsmatter, a mental health service provided by Lancashire Care Foundation Trust, which provides talking therapies to people suffering from common mental health disorders.

The referral took a couple of weeks but after that I began a six-week course at Darwen Healthcare Centre which focused on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and ways to cope with feelings of depression.

I have found it to be very helpful and am applying some of the techniques I've learnt to my everyday life to help me cope.

Now I'm awaiting 1:1 CBT sessions so I can receive more personal support for my problems, but I accept that depression will always be something I struggle with and that it's just a case of managing it properly.

So overall, I have had an extremely positive experience of mental health services, although I do feel there are pressures on mental health services and that waits to access help should be shorter.

This is why I would welcome a commitment in the NHS long term plan to increase funding for mental health services by £2.3 billion per year.

It is welcome funding but more is needed to bridge what I feel is a disparity between funding and access to treatment for mental health and physical health.

I feel that mental health is very much the poor relative of physical health when it comes to the NHS, and as well as putting more money into mental health, more needs to be done towards tackling the stigma towards it in wider society.

Although attitudes have improved significantly over the past few decades, I will still get people who don't understand it because it's invisible and they will tell you to pull yourself together or that it's all in your head.

This all has to change so the battle can be won.

In the UK, around one in four people will experience a mental health problem each year while the biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK is suicide, and the stresses of modern life will most likely only see this figure rise further.

So in light of this, I felt it important to share my own experience and to try and raise awareness and educate.

Remember, there is no shame in admitting that you're not okay and in getting help.