“…It is widely recognised that personal and perceived stigma are associated with residual depression; 74 stigma negatively influences quality of life; 75 , 76 and stigma is a major barrier to patients with MDD seeking treatment. 74 , 77 , 78 However, knowledge gaps exist regarding the lived experiences and treatment journeys of patients with MDD, 79 , 80 and an important aspect of full functional recovery from MDD is how patients manage to liberate themselves from perceived public stigma. 74 , 79 In a recent, “bottom-up” review of the lived experiences of “expert patients” with depression, individual patient experiences differed according to social and cultural factors (eg, loneliness, poor communication, stigma, stereotypes), and ethnicity, gender, and race.…”