Hannah Modra was a girl who lived life to the full - bright, bubbly, clever, artistic, socially aware, and with a strong support network of family and friends. In November 2007 all that changed as depression took hold of her and in just two months took her life.

This is Hannah's story. A 17-year-old girl whose life ended tragically and suddenly because she was too ashamed to admit, even to those closest to her, that she had depression and needed help.

Hannah saw depression as a weakness - something to be ashamed of and something that she would deal with on her own. The black dog, as depression is called, did not allow her to deal with it but instead made her feel so sad and so alone that the only way out, was to end her life.

Her parents are helping to spread the message that depression is an illness, like any other, that needs to be talked about, needs to be shared and often times requires professional help and medication to treat.

If you have asthma there is no shame in using a puffer. There should be no shame in getting counselling or taking medication to get you through depression. Had Hannah known that and believed it she could have beaten the black dog.

An hour and a half before she died, Hannah wrote in her diary:
'Fainted at school today. At the front of assembly. Hardly slept last night. Survived a jog this morning with Dad, barely. I feel bad! There's no real reason I can think of. Lack of sleep maybe. Tomorrow is school camp. What is going on with me? Felicity Peel is nice to me. So is Shayaga , Ben and everyone. Today is the first day of year 12. I haven't finished my holiday homework and I don't want to. Most people managed to finish all their homework. I feel like I can't do anything! But I can! I just don't want to! I don't want to bring down my whole school's score! I'm not excited about sport. I'm dreading house swimming and house athletics. Is it just 'cos I'm tired? It wouldn't be that hard to just end everything.

And that's what she did - ended a life full of promise and hope.

Hannah's mum Ellen said: "Hannah never thought this could kill her. She thought she could work through it on her own. She did all the right things - exercised, ate healthy, wrote blessings, wrote her feelings down in her diary, had lots of friends, kept busy. Her diary entries were all about fighting this - until that last entry."

So what changed for this beautiful, bubbly girl? According to psychologist, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, there is no point in trying to analyse Hannah's behaviour from a rational point of view. "Depression can distort moods, destroy the basis for rational thought and it destroyed her desire to live."

Hannah's dive into the depths of depression was sudden. Her parents say had they had more time they may have picked up on the changes that were happening to Hannah.

Ellen said: "She needed someone to say - Hannah people will still love you if you have depression. If I could have her back I would say to her that her thoughts were just turning in on her and making her confused."

There was no clear warning sign of what was to come. Dr Carr-Gregg, who analysed Hannah's diary said: She had a solid base of warmth, friendship and love, all of which should have been a potent and positive amulet, a countervailing force against future unhappiness. Despite all this, on Wednesday 30th January at 4pm, she finally slipped her psychological moorings and succumbed to a savage, lacerating, black, suicidal depression."

Before that her parents noticed, what seemed at the time, little things. She had less enthusiasm to do things and complained of being bored often. Ellen thought this was just her being a teen but now knows this should have been a warning sign. She found it difficult to sleep. She became rude to people. She was vacant, distant and disoriented. She had episodes of shaking.

Ellen and Mark did not ignore these signs. They took her to their GP because they were worried that their little girl had changed; she was not herself. The GP did not diagnose depression.

Ellen says: "The GP did not know Hannah as we did. She could not know that the girl sitting in front of her was not the Hannah we knew."

The day after the doctor's visit, Hannah was accepting her Prefects Award at school when she fainted. She came home visibly distressed that she had fainted in front of the entire school.

Ellen says perhaps the visit to the doctor, her fainting, were catalystic events in her mind. Things were crumbling, she could no longer hide what was happening. In her mind, her weakness was becoming evident to those around her. After the school event, her mum told her to have a lie down while she called the school. Minutes later she found Hannah but it was too late. She had already taken her own life.

At the time, depression was the furthest thing from her parents' minds. Ellen says that the detective who attended the scene immediately after said that Hannah must have been depressed. "I thought absolutely not my Hannah. Hannah was my happy, bright girl. It was only when we started reading her diary that it sunk in that she did have depression. But even the experts who read her diary said there was no indication that she planned on taking her life."

Hannah knew she had depression. What she didn't know was that she needed help. This was not something she could deal with on her own. Her depression was so deep that she needed counselling and medication.

The message to come from Hannah's story is that we need to accept that depression is an illness not a weakness. We need to talk about it. We need to look for signs. If you have a friend who is sad, or who is acting out of character, talk to them, ask them questions - don't ignore the signs.

Talking about what we are going through makes us feel that we are not alone and that there is hope. If Hannah had told a friend or her mum what she felt, someone would have told her that it was OK, that it could be dealt with. There is no shame in seeking counselling or taking medication because it is a sickness.

Hannah's dad Mark said: "This is an illness that if not treated you can die from. It's that basic."

"Get together with friends, talk about your feelings. Talk to an Aunt or Uncle or family friend - just talk about it."

"If you are feeling sad and there is no-one that you can talk to, go to your GP. You can go on your own, with a friend or parent."

"We need to talk about depression and make kids aware that it is something that can take control of you if you let it. You can fight it if you talk about it and get professional help. It's that simple," Mark said.

Hannah lost her fight to depression but her legacy will be that there is hope. Talking about it, sharing how you are feeling, getting support, counselling and medication can beat the black dog.

Want to know more about depression? Read on...