How to help someone to deal with depression?

People often confuse depression and sadness, which sooner or later visits us all, but these are very different things. Depression always takes at least two weeks and has a negative impact on all spheres of life, from work to relationships. Here’s how to help those who are facing it.

Help to find assistance. Carefully offer to seek help from a professional. Ideally, set specific goals and tasks: find contacts of doctors, make a list of questions that  you want to ask a specialist, etc. Perhaps it will be hard to believe, but to these simple steps can be simply insurmountable for those who have depression.

Share information. If your friend feels guilt or shame because of his or her status, explain that depression is the same disease, such as asthma or diabetes. This is not a sign of weakness or a character feature, so to expect that a person will deal with it by himself is the same as believing that broken arm can self-heal.

Look for information about depression – the more you know about this disease, the better you understand your friend’s feelings.

Do not confuse depression and sadness (melancholy). Do not underestimate this disease, and do not compare it with normal sadness that you occasionally feel. It makes the sick one feel even more guilty about their disease.

Talk openly about the disease. Studies show that talks about suicidal thoughts reduces the risk of suicide itself (and depressed people are often thinking about ending their life).

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