Depression is a chronic physical illness with mostly invisible symptoms. It impedes regular day to day existence, causing agony, harming those experiencing it as well as affecting everybody around them.
Depression doesn't decrease an individual's longing to interface with other individuals, simply their capacity. It is a serious but treatable disorder that affects millions of people, from all walks of life and despite the age group. Your support and encouragement can play an important role in the recovery of a depressed individual.
Understanding the situation/condition:
In the event that somebody you know is discouraged, you might be encountering any number of troublesome feelings, including defenselessness, disappointment, outrage, dread, blame, and misery. These feelings are all normal. It’s not easy dealing with a family member’s or a friend’s depression and if you neglect your health, it can become overwhelming. Here’s how to make a difference.
- Being silent and just listening can do a miracle:
What might feel like a small, meaningless gesture to you most likely feels like an intimate, caring gesture to your loved one in need? One of the best things you can do is just showing up and being present there with them not to give advice but just to listen.
- Being there:
Being there is the best thing you can do for someone with depression. For a person struggling with depression, the most healing moments can be when you simply sat with them. While they cry, simply, wordlessly hold their hand or you might speak warm statements like ‘What I can do to help you’ or ‘you are so important to me’ or ‘we’ll figure out a way to make you feel better’.
- Stop criticizing or being judgmental:
Being only insensitive, criticizing and judgmental can only isolate the depressed individual even more. When you say the sentences like, ‘this is just in your head’ or ‘you are thinking negative’, you are making them scare away. Imposing your thoughts on them can be lethal to their life.
- Avoid the tough-love approach:
Thinking that being tough with a depressed person can inspire positive behavioral changes or undo their depression is such a lame idea by itself. Doing this is as useless, hurtful and harmful as ignoring, pushing away or not helping someone who is suffering from cancer and standing at the edge of his life.
- Avoid making comparisons and offering advice:
At whatever point somebody we care about is having an extreme time, we long to fix their sorrow. While it may be true that the depressed person needs guidance but saying that will make them feel insulted or even more inadequate and detach further. While your intention is probably to help one feel less alone in their despair, this can cut short your conversation and minimize their experience.
Frequently when individuals are feeling awful they would prefer not to go out and do anything. Everything feels just too hard. So encouraging them to do something with you is great support. It could be something small like watching funny video clips, listening to music, going for a walk or window-shopping. Think about something you both like to do.
