If the outcome of this type of story is that someone says, "what a shame," and then hugs their child a little tighter, calls their sister or contemplates their own mental state for a brief moment, then I'd say there's value there. Even if a new distraction comes along. Twenty years ago, the idea of deoression being a real and valid disease wasn't much appreciated. Each story like this inches society closer to this understanding. Do we as a society fall shamefully short of addressing this disease? Hell yes. All the more reason to write about it imo.
i never suggested that hugs save lives but rather that there is value in such a story beyond "saving lives." Also, I'd wager that more than once a hug has actually saved a life. In no way am I diminishing the seriousness of clinical depression but I'm also not willing to suggest that this article or others like it are completely vapid.
What makes you the designated speaker for depression and mental illness?