Despite the dramatic rise in the number of people being diagnosed with depression, the debate on how to deal with and treat it continues.

One man who found a reprieve from the darkness of that afflicted most of his adult life was prepared to step forward and tell his story to the Free Press.

Michael Wiggins, 57, of Great Cornard, first experienced depression when he was 29 years old.

The illness dominated his life, destroyed his marriage and often prevented him from simply stepping out of his house.

But after his fiancée, Jane Tobin, encouraged him to take up drawing three years ago, Mr Wiggins has experienced a remarkable journey that has transformed his life.

Mr Wiggins, of Maldon Court, said: "Thanks to Jane I started doodling in a small pad to begin with – I had lots of visions of strange landscapes and I just started putting them down onto paper. It was just experimental at that stage.

"When I was very ill and diagnosed with clinical depression I could not lead a normal life or keep to normal times of day and night, but with drawing I could do it whenever I wanted, even if it was 1am."

As the months passed, Mr Wiggins, who moved to the Sudbury area 20 years ago to take a job as a cargo superintendent at Stansted Airport, found that he was recovering from his depression.

He said: "At that stage it was just a wonderful therapy so I kept going, trying different ways of drawing, and began to develop a style using pen and ink. People started praising my work."

Last February he framed three of his pictures before heading to Norwich to show the finished results to Ms Tobin who lived there at the time.

It turned out to be a life-changing trip.

"I drove past an art gallery and just thought I would ask about exhibiting my work, which was very unlike me.

"Luckily, the gallery director was in that day. He asked to see my work and said he would like to take eight of them for an exhibition.

"A year ago I could not have done this but the excitement that drawing has given me has been very uplifting," he said.

Although art has played a major part in his battle with depression he admits that trying to deal with or recover from mental illness would be impossible without love and support.

Mr Wiggins, who has three sons and will soon be moving into a new house in Sudbury with Ms Tobin, said: "If you do not have people around you who love and support you, it is far tougher to deal with."

He now has plans to exhibit his work in Sudbury and Long Melford with ambitions to make a living out of his artistic talent.

"I still have days when the depression is too much and I can't function but in comparison to where I was a few years ago I am in a much better place," he added.

Mr Wiggins' exhibition will take place at the Grapevine gallery, in Unthank Road, Norwich, from January 29 to February 23.