[jnorion]

There's a lot less stigma attached when it's a (relatively) anonymous forum, when you're not face-to-face with the people responding, when you have a large support group because people who understand and care find YOU (via your headline) rather than you having to find them, and when someone who responds in a negative way is likely to get downvoted and called an asshole.

There are probably still people on HN who respond negatively to an admission of depression, but they're (wisely) keeping quiet.

[cdjk]

I've never considered my username here to be particularly anonymous. Apparently it is, as I just discovered, but anyone who knows me would recognize my username.

To be honest, the number of people who are open about mental health problems in posts like this is fairly surprising to me.