After being prescribed a drug to treat stage 3 melanoma skin cancer, Niall McGee developed severe depression, spending five weeks in a psychiatric ward in 2013. About 40 per cent of people who take the interferon drug develop depression.

McGee, a business reporter at The Globe, hopes his story will help others going through a similar experience. The other big reason he's sharing his story? "I used to have a cavalier and arrogant attitude toward depression," he says. "I didn't really believe in it, or understand it, and I had little sympathy for sufferers. So hopefully people who don't understand depression will gain some insight into how awful and debilitating depression is."

McGee took reader questions on his experience in an Ask Me Anything on Reddit . He also wrote about it as part of our #OpenMinds series on improving mental health research, diagnosis and treatment.

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Click here to read a recap of the Q&A.

Follow Niall McGee on Twitter and Facebook.