"My wife had coffee with him and his wife on Saturday morning (but) it's the first I've known about it," said Laidley, a teammate of Schwass between 1993 and 1997.
The Kangaroos have not been immune to depression as an issue for footballers after Nathan Thompson revealed in 2004 he had battled clinical depression for several years.
Thompson was in the last of seven seasons with Hawthorn at the time before he was traded to Arden Street at the end of that year.
"We've been touched with it by what Nathan's gone through, but he handles his extremely well now," Laidley said on Wednesday morning.
"I'd like to think our culture, our environment, and myself, also help it."
But the Kangaroos coach wasn't sure if AFL players were more willing to disclose depression problems than they were a decade ago.
"We've had one player that's still currently playing come out and said it and one player who's been retired for a few years, so it's hard to gauge."
