Depression is a mental health condition that causes feelings of sadness and hopelessness, along with other symptoms. It can be an isolating experience for some, and it is important to understand the signs and symptoms of depression. Caring for someone with depression isn’t easy, but it is essential to ask for help from family and friends, take steps to stay healthy, and find time for yourself.
Depression is usually fueled by feeling misunderstood and disconnected. To support a loved one with depression, learn more about depression, lend a listening ear, avoid judgment, and take care of yourself. Encourage your teen to stay active and involved in household responsibilities to help them feel supported. Remember that their behavior isn’t your fault, even if you have made a mistake.
Depression can be managed with medication, therapy, and self-help activities like yoga, meditation, journaling, resting, and creating art. Tell your friend or family member that you’re concerned and want to help and listen. Be aware that you aren’t there to fix your friend or tell them what to do. Check in, listen, and be compassionate, not judgmental.
When watching a friend live with depression, learn what to do, avoid, and how to recognize the signs of suicidal thoughts. Recognizing depression symptoms in a loved one is crucial, and talking to them about getting help can make a big difference. Being depressed is painful and debilitating, and understanding the signs and symptoms can help motivate them to seek professional help.
📹 how to talk to someone with depression (do’s & don’t) 🤍
Dear viewer, I hope you will find this video helpful. I totally understand that feeling of wanting to do everything for our loved ones …
How to help someone who is struggling emotionally?
Listen. Giving someone space to talk and listening to how they feel can help. … Give reassurance. Seeking help can feel lonely and scary. Stay calm. Be patient. … Don’t assume. … Keep in touch. How does someone get sectioned? In rare cases, a person can be kept in a hospital under the Mental Health Act (often called being sectioned) and treated without their agreement. Only a team of approved mental health professionals can decide to section someone. If you think someone is in danger and won’t ask for help, you can call their local social services. They can arrange an assessment. You can usually find the number on the local council’s website. It’s important to understand what might happen and your loved one’s rights before taking action. It might help to talk this through with someone you trust.
What to do to a sad person?
When someone is down, take them seriously. Let them explain what they’re going through. Let them talk. Don’t reject the person’s experiences and feelings. Don’t make them feel worse. Don’t try to change how they feel. Don’t tell them they’re wrong. If someone is talking about their experiences and emotions, it’s okay. You may not have the same experience. You shouldn’t feel this bad. You’re overreacting. It’s not as bad as you think.
What activities should I do with a depressed person?
Walking: Walking, going for a walk, or taking your pet for a walk can help you feel better. It’s because of the endorphins that come from being active. Pedal and enjoy the endorphins. If you don’t like bikes, try rollerblading or skateboarding. Many cities have bikes you can rent and drop off in different parts of town. This is a good way to explore a new neighborhood without spending much. Swimming is also good exercise. The beach is a good spot, even in winter. Bring a book or music and swim for a couple of hours. If the beach is closed, check if your local community center has an outdoor pool. Read in a park. Sometimes, being with others can make you feel less lonely. Sitting in a park on a sunny day with a good book and snacks may help fight depression. Gardening: Working with plants can help with depression. It helps you focus and think of happy things. Plus, you get a sense of pride from the final products. Start with a couple of plants on your windowsill or in your backyard. You can also rent a plot to garden or volunteer at a community garden.
Indoor Activities to Help With Depression. Depression makes it hard to leave bed or house. If you can’t leave the house, there are still things you can do at home to feel better.
Your home is probably your most comfortable place, but what do you do when you’re depressed at home? Handwork can help you feel better because you can be proud of what you make. Some activities include:
How to motivate someone who is sad?
“Do you want space?” Not everyone wants to talk all the time. It’s important to respect that. You matter to me. Depression makes you feel ashamed and hopeless. Tell the person they matter and that they are not a burden. “Your feelings are valid.” Let the person talk about their feelings. Don’t make fun of these feelings. “Do you want company?” Tell the person they don’t have to be alone when they’re feeling low. “I care, even if I don’t understand.” Some people with depression feel others don’t understand them. Instead of pretending to understand, show you care. Ask how you can help. Everyone is different. Some people don’t know what they need, but others know what helps and what makes things worse. “I’ll help you.” If you can help, let the person know. Can you research therapists, go with them to the first phone call, or walk them to the first session? Or can you help them talk to their spouse or parents about their feelings? ; “Can I do something to help you?” Sometimes, someone may not want to talk about their feelings. Instead, offer to do something fun with them, like watching a movie, sharing a meal, or going to a local garden. “I love you.” Sometimes, the simplest thing is best. Just saying you love them can help. If you think someone you love might have depression, don’t be afraid to talk about it. Tell them you’ve noticed changes in their emotions or behavior and that you want to help.
How to comfort a sad person over text?
I’m here if you need to talk. … Can I help? … I’m here for you, even if you don’t want to talk. … Sharing pictures of fun memories. … Tell them why you like them. … Share something funny. Tell them you appreciate them. … Remind them of your friendship. Help a depressed friend over text. Do you have a friend who is depressed? Are they far away or can’t you see them right now? If so, it may be hard because you want to help them feel better. You can help a friend with depression over text. Read this guide to help your friend today. I’m here if you need to talk. People with depression don’t reach out because they don’t want to be a burden or afraid to share their feelings. This is where friendship helps. If you know your friend is depressed, reach out and let them know you’re there for them. That way, they know you’re there for them when they need you.
Can I help? Depressed people often don’t ask for help. Ask your friend how you can help them with their depression.
How to reassure someone over text?
Acknowledge their pain. Start with, I can only imagine how hard this is for you. Acknowledging their feelings shows you understand. Remind them of their strength. Share a comforting text like, I know this is hard, but you’re strong and you’ll get through this. You could say, “I’m here if you want to talk or just take your mind off things.” Encourage self-care. Remind them to take care of themselves. A message like “Take care of yourself” can help.
Supporting a Friend Through the Grieving Process. Everyone grieves in their own way. Here are some ways to offer condolences and support a friend during this difficult time:
Express your sympathy: Send a text message. Acknowledge their pain: “I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you.” Share positive memories: If you knew the person who died, sharing a happy memory can help. Tell them how you can help. It could be doing errands, making a meal, or just being there to listen.
How do you motivate a depressed girl?
Listen well. Depressed people find it hard to open up. They might feel isolated or distrust others. Let the depressed person know you’re there for them. Let them share what they feel, but don’t give advice right away. Your support is the most important thing you can give. While listening, show you understand. Show them you care by listening with your body. Take their feelings seriously. A depressed person is going through a lot. What they are going through must be difficult. They can’t just cheer up or forget about it. Be compassionate when talking to a depressed person.
Help them find support. Depressed people might not know they’re depressed. Even if they know, it might be hard for them to find support. You can help them find a therapist. Go with them if you can.
How to emotionally comfort someone?
7 Ways to Console Someone Going Through a Hard Time: Be There. We’re there for the people we care about. … Tell them you love them. … Let them know you care. Listen to them. … A hug says a lot. Share memories. … Keep supporting them. It’s hard to console someone going through loss or hardship. You don’t want to say the wrong thing, but saying nothing could be just as hurtful. We asked the CaringBridge community for words and ideas to console someone in need.
1. Be there for them. We show up for the people we care about. Being there for someone means being there throughout and after their crisis.
What to say to someone who is struggling emotionally?
Tell me more. I’m here to listen. You seem down. Is there something on your mind? Take your time. I’m not in a hurry. When someone is feeling down, it’s important to take them seriously. Let the person explain what they’re going through. Let them talk. Don’t reject the person’s experiences and feelings. Don’t make them feel worse. Don’t try to change how they feel. Don’t tell them they’re wrong. If someone is talking about their experiences and emotions, it’s okay. You may not have the same experience.
What are 2 things a person should do if they feel depressed?
Stay in touch if you’re feeling depressed. Don’t isolate yourself. … Be more active. Exercise. Face your fears. Don’t avoid difficult things. Don’t drink too much. Alcohol can be a problem for some people. … Eat healthy. Have a routine. Try these if you’re feeling depressed. Stay in touch. Don’t isolate yourself. Socializing can lift your mood. Stay in touch with friends and family so you have someone to talk to when you feel low. Be more active. Exercise. Exercise can help lift your mood. If you haven’t exercised in a while, start with 20 minutes of walking a day.
How to make a sad person happy?
5 ways to cheer someone up: send a handwritten note. Make it personal. … Try new activities together. Doing something different can be a great distraction and create positive memories. … Bring them their favorite food. Plan a movie night. Send a funny text.
What to say to a sad person?
Tell them you care. Ask how you can help. Urge them to talk to a professional. Ask them if they want to talk. Remind them that they matter. Tell them you understand. Remind them it’s OK to feel the way they feel. It’s not always easy to know what to say to someone who is depressed. Don’t worry about saying the wrong thing. Many people with clinical depression feel alone, which makes their condition worse. If you don’t know what to say, just say you’re there for them. This article explains what to do when you want to say more but have trouble expressing your feelings. It also covers helpful statements for someone who is depressed. Tell them you care. These two words—I care—can mean a lot to someone who feels alone. A hug or a handshake can also show you care. It’s important to let the person know they matter.
📹 How I work with depressed clients | Lauren Gaudet | First Session Resources
Lauren is a compassionate therapist who spent the first 5 years of her career in mental health working at a long-term care home.
Do’s – Engage With Them (1:09) – Check-in With Them (4:30) – Show Them (Demonstrate Verbally) You Care (6:51) Don’t – Try Not to Give Unsolicited Advice (9:02) Listen to understand not to make your point – Don’t try to make them “feel better” (10:11) – Don’t try to figure out why/Don’t try to “solve” their depression (10:58) I think I got all the points, made it for when I go back to the article 🙂 Thank you so much for this article!
Can’t tell you how many times I have had meltdowns finishing this article. For someone who has gone through it, I have hard time explaining what I felt and what I needed at that time. I started sharing my journey on Facebook, so I can be that voice for someone else who kept me going at my lowest speaking their truth and struggles. The hardest part of all is, that no one understand what you’re going through. The medical system is not made for people who has depression. I just wanna say Thank you for making this article. I just needed to hear this all. I don’t care if the article was 15mins long. No one can understand how much healing this 15mins has brought me in a long time. People who are struggling just remember it’s TEMPORARY, it will take time but with Baby Steps, you will make it on the other side and help many more like you one way or the other.
Thank you very much, I have depression and it got triggered a while ago and I’m still crying non-stop because my family don’t know how to listen to me. My mom said I should just think positively and I’m overreacting and those just hurts so much. It made it even painful when the police, not even part of my family, that my feelings are not normal so I should go to hospital and let myself get check-up. It hurts so much that other people can understand you better than your own family..
I’m going through depression myself and I find unsolicited advices the most irritating. Rationally I know advices are meant to improve my situation but mentally I blame myself and feel judged by the advisor. For someone who hasn’t gone through depression, they never know how to talk to someone with depression. This isolates depressed people even more cause there is no specific explanation to it. This is most helpful article so far. Thank you so much!
i’m not a professional, but with my experience with being on both ends. don’t forget that you can only do what you can. you don’t have to bend over backwards to help them. the only people who can really save them is themselves, but you can try your best to be a support system. sometimes the other party may need more than what you can offer and the best thing you can do at that point is accept that you can’t or find resources to help them tackle the task.
Thank you so much for putting this article out here. Recently I’ve started talking to a close friend that I stopped talking to for a while because our friendship was super messy. I’m trying to avoid some of the past mistakes I made and this article has helped me out a bunch. I’ve always tried my best to reach out to my friend but ultimately failed and reflecting on what I said made her mental health experience worse (in all fairness we were both 13-ish). I feel more confident communicating my feelings to her in a healthy, constructive manner. I’m so lucky to have found this article when I did ♥
I am diagnose with Depression. perusal this article almost make me cry. my parents, and my sister would use their words to hurt me. I didn’t like how they were giving me advices, try to make me feel better, and forcing me to go to the doctor. hearing what you say really make me feel a little bit better when a lots I have been going through!
#1 important is Don’t judge them based on your experience or where you are in your life….don’t act like someone suffering should be able to pull themselves out….they will have good days & bad days….PLEASE KNOW & REMEMBER THEY DON’T WANT TO BE DEPRESSED…THEY WANT TO BE HAPPY AGAIN….They are down on themselves enough & already have shame & guilt for feeling depressed bc it also affects their loved ones & household & they know it……
i really appreciate this article as someone who struggles with depression. my fiancé doesn’t really understand my experience with it and often when trying to get me out of a depressive episode and i say i’m not in a good mood or whatever it’s always “why?” and my answer can never be “i don’t know”.. it’s hard sometimes because of that to open up to him when i am feeling depressed. i also struggle – he often asks what he can do for me as well, but in the moment i just don’t know. it’s frustrating for both of us when i don’t know what he can do to help because i know he wants to.
As an empath myself who has a significant other in their life that struggles with depression almost daily I can agree 100% with your statement be there for them and sometimes is an empath it does make me feel slightly depressed to form my own feelings but in a way it does help me as well conquer my own demons thank you for your words of wisdom and I’m sure it’ll help both of us in the long run❤❤
I found out that my friend got into cutting. She told me about it and I was very worried, she sent me pics of the cuts. I was terrified but stayed calm and talked to her. I’m glad that I was the first person and that she could trust me, it kinda became my responsibility, I’m perusal this article for further advice. Most of the things mentioned, I had already implemented without perusal the article. In the end I recommended to see a professional but I never stopped checking up on her. Now she still won’t see a professional coz she is scared but now a days she hasn’t been cutting and I could see improvement. If anyone else has any advice at all, I’d appreciate a response ❤ I very much agree with not trying to make them feel better coz it’s just like lying.
Accepting the very first no is not necessarily always right. Another problem is that a massively depressed person may just be tired of talking about a very serious life or death topic and NEVER GETTING ANYWHERE. If somebody is in the cold rain for months, being sick is not the cause but the symptom. Even though it might mean that by now they are to weak to walk. Sometimes they do not need medication to help with the ice rain. Sometimes they need to get inside. And to quote a movie: I thought the worst would be to end up all alone. But it’s much worse to be among people who make you feel all alone. And so far everybody has managed to make me feel that I am absolutely alone in this hell. No wonder I want out. Over all, one of the smarter articles on the topic.
Thank you so much for this article! My long distance gf is curently going through a very severe episode. We’ve only been together for a bit over a month so far, and I definitely made a lot of mistakes in dealing with her depression, because I didn’t know how to handle her lack of communication. Though now after seeing this, as well as some other articles, I think I definitely understand everything better. I’ve been sending her reassuring texts these past few days, telling her that she is strong and that I believe in her and that she can get through this. Just reassuring her that I still care and that it’s ok if she doesn’t have the energy to put work into the relationship atm. Would it be a good thing to tell her about my day, without expecting an answer back from her when she doesn’t have the energy to answer of course, so that she still feels included in my life?
The thing is i dont know if my friend currently has depression. They’r just not smiling at all and keep saying theyr just tired. Should i still try to engage with them? Because im actually gonna have to ask if they feel depressed, and i just dont know how to do that. (My friend have had depression before, so im extra worried)
I have a friend who is currently I fear very ill with depression. I ask him how he is doing and check in. I try to ask him if he wants to talk about it and why he may be feeling the way he is. He tells me everytime he is feeling worse. He also said there is a reason why he is feeling like this, he won’t tell me but I think its because his ex-girlfriend, someone he really loved and cherished a lot broke up with him, however I do not know why and I don’t want to ask it is quite sensitive. He has from what he tells me suffered with depression for what it seems like his entire life but I think this break up made it so much worse. I’m so scared he’ll give up on life, he tells me he just wants to die, I care for him a lot but I dont know what to do. He does not want to go to therapy, he does not get how it will help him and he does not take any medication, he does not want to rely on medication to make him feel better. I dont know what to do anymore can someone please help me.
I dont like my sister, I hate her Shes done so many rotten and horrible things to me that damaged my reputation amongst everyone I know, she spills my secrets that ive never told her to my friends because she has none and ive never told her anything abt me or my secrets. she looked through my phone and read almost all my text messages, blamed my friend’s actions on me..she acts like a child..my mom tried to tell me that I needed to be her friend and act kinder, But I will never effing do that I can’t even explain it through comments how much shes put me through she finally moved to another continent …I always knew there was something wrong with my sister yk..talking abt suicide and stuff. My mom told me she was in a hospital rn, couldnt really care less but then she said it was a mental hospital or smth,, turns out she has chronic depression and has the mental capacity of a child, so everything makes sense now. I feel so bad for her, but I cant get myself to love her im 13 trying to teach myself how I can act more mature the do’s and dont’s on how to help someone with depression Ive watched a few articles on how to help someone with chronic depression and how to help someone with a mental disabillity but this was by far the best one, I really liked how you didnt make it hard to understand the fact not all of us are really fluent in english or can really understand those other vids this was by far the best, Loved it\r \r hope I can help my sister with this, even though I dont like her much:)
I’m trying to help a friend overcome her depression. I would do anything to help her, expecting nothing in return. But she seems to be trying to avoid me. It happens that I love her, I didn’t tell her, but she suspects it. And I think she’s not interested in having a relationship with me, even if she’s free from depression. How should I behave?
My mom is having a real hard time with depression ..and I feel helpless..I do a lot of the things you say..what do you do when they always say they rather be dead? its so hard to hear my mom saying this…she says she doesn’t want to be on this earth anymore… I have no clue what do to….Ive tried everything..🥺 she thinks she doesn’t have a purpose to live anymore..
I have a question: how do you cheer an insecure person up if everything they say about themself is true? My neighbor feels like a loser and was expressing his self-doubt and pain. But The thing is…everything he said was completely right. He has a learning disability and ASD; he’s a very slow learner; he can’t drive; he’s lived with his mom for 27 years and has never moved out; he went to a small charter school instead of the superior local public high school; he graduated at 20, not 18; he depends on others to do tasks right; he can’t manage things alone very well; his boss won’t let him work shifts alone, without someone to guide him. I don’t see his skills or potential. So…I don’t know what to tell him. I actually agree that the people around him (and many more, of course) are better. He…actually is less/lesser, as far as I’m concerned. So yeah…what do you say to someone when their pain and insecurities are part of the truth and aren’t exaggerated? I don’t know what to tell this guy, so I didn’t say anything when he talked about how weak and inferior he was.
Hii everyone I’m someone who is not struggling with depression but I have a friend who is struggling but the problem is we live far away like veryy far and I cant meet him anytime soon but I really want to help him through out but all i can afford is texting please someone suggest me what should I do…he on purpose never talks about it as well because he too knows I cant be there to assist him please share your ideas I really need help and I’m very confused how should I approach him he never talks about it but when he does I can understand he really needs help(his parents are no help and he already goes to counselling) any ideas will be appreciated