A lot of people confuse depression to being sad or grief. The terms are totally different and aren’t all about feeling sad or not feeling good about the situation. Depression is a totally different level of something that you can’t handle just lightly. It is in fact a clinical disorder that needs to be treated with special doctor care. If you must know, the statistics of depressed people are really high that goes hand in hand with the lifestyle and trend change. If you leave this disorder untreated, it may lead into many things that may not be controllable by a normal person. If your loved ones are in the depression mode, make sure you take good care and treat them medically. It is a cyclical process, which means that if a person is in a depression mode, not only is he affected. Even people around him/her will be affected due to this.
But, there are ways in which you can help your loved one or person dealing with depression and that is what we are going to discuss in this article as well. But remember that you can’t cure anyone’s depression with these tips. All you can do is to help them from suffering after getting medical c from a proper psychiatric doctor.
Some Ways To Help A Person Dealing With Depression
1Know your audience
It is very important that you know whom you are dealing with, for which you have to make sure to read a lot of depression and its effects. You have to research about the person and what kind of depression he is dealing with. That will give you an idea as to how you have to take things in hand. Before even jumping to help people, you have to gather information about what depression is and how to handle people who are affected by depression. That is something which is very important when it comes to handling a depressed person.
2Listen to them
It doesn’t matter what kind of illness your loved one is going through, you need to make sure to listen to them. Listening to their thoughts, their ideas, their way of handling is what will soothe them. But the only tough thing is that, most of the times, people dealing with depression may not want to talk about it. But when they are ready to talk about it, you should be ready to listen too. Just be there for them in the situation they are going through and feel for them. Being there without making judgments goes a long way. This will make them feel that they are not alone and that there is someone who is there to take care of them.
Know more about depression
3Help them in their routine
It is important that you are with them during the everyday routine and help them go through the daily chores. It is highly possible that a person who is in such condition will forget to feed their pet, cook dinner, or even bathe. It would show your greatness if you support them in their everyday routine. Take it step by step. You can remind them slowly but it is important that you are with them to do the routine. That way they will know that they are missing out on something that they shouldn’t be forgotten. If someone is around them, it will make them forget and slowly move on to the next level.
4Fun activities to be planned
Yes, you can definitely call the person’s close friends or your relatives to join you guys for a fun day out. You can definitely plan a fun and happening activity day, but also be ready because most probably the person is going to refuse your invite. This is because the person doesn’t feel comfortable with others around him/her. But that doesn’t mean others shouldn’t come home to meet this person. Make sure they are subtle and don’t talk anything related to disorder to the person. That will only upset them more and more.
5Don’t judge
You never know what the other person is undergoing, so there is no way you can judge them. No matter how superior or how cool you are, judging a person who is mentally upset is totally sick and a bad behavior. You never know why the person is depressed or having different feelings. But that doesn’t give you any right to judge. Since you are with the person almost always, it may give way to criticize their thinking, but hold that back with you. The problem with a person dealing with depression is that, they will fall more on the edge if you keep judging them.
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6Be careful
It is very important that you are careful with yourself when you are around them. This is because, your words, your actions, the way you talk, walk and every single thing may irritate them or make them feel that they are not normal which may sometimes lead to even bolt up pressure and anger. These are the times you need to space out, take time for yourself, and make sure that the person doesn’t always see you helping him/her. It is good for you to take breaks from this as well because you need to take that break to regenerate yourself. Draw a line when it comes to helping the person. Know when to stop and how much to do.
When you are handling a person dealing with depression, it is more like a neck knife situation! You have to be fun, but you shouldn’t over do it. You should advice, but shouldn’t over advice. You should take care, but you shouldn’t over care for the person. Everything in extent can suffocate them and if they go unattended, that could kill their esteem too. So, take utmost care of you and the person dealing with depression.
-Pavithra Ravi
