About 70 residents attended the forum which was held at The New Max Function and Conference Centre.

The Black Dog Institute and the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program have teamed up to deliver these free events.

Based in Sydney at the Prince of Wales Hospital, the Black Dog Institute is one of the leading authorities on mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder in Australia.

The ‘understanding depression and resilience’ seminar was well-received by local residents.

“I found it very informative,” one resident said.

“Matthew was very well spoken and was able to answer any difficult questions we threw at him.”

A sufferer of depression himself, Mr Johnstone gives first-hand advice on how to deal with depression and other mood disorders.

“I guess in a nutshell the presentation provides an overview of what depression is, signs and symptoms, what to do and how to build personal resilience,” Mr Johnstone said.

On Tuesday morning 350 students from Moree Secondary College, Bingara and Warialda high schools attended the Black Dog Institute’s Head Strong Youth presentation.

Hunter New England Health school link co-ordinator for mental health Bruce Winter said the presentation was very successful.

“The kids seemed to get a lot out of the presentation. It was very well received,” he said.

Prior to his work at the Institute, Mr Johnstone worked for more than 15 years as a creative advisor and director in advertising where he worked in Sydney, San Francisco and New York.

In 2005 he published ‘I Had a Black Dog’, an illustrated book on what it is to suffer depression and what can be learnt from it.

It has been a best seller and is now published in more than 20 countries.