Depression, a terrible but curable illness, affects millions of people from all walks of life. The condition causes excruciating pain and interferes with daily living, causing harm not only to the individual but also to those around them.
Several difficult emotions may arise if someone close to you is depressed, including despair, frustration, rage, worry, regret, and loss. Feeling all of these emotions is natural.
Remember that depression is not a manageable condition to live with if you have a colleague or close family member who suffers from it. Moreover, it can become too much if you do not take good care of yourself. Well, this leads us to our main topic, i.e., how to help someone with depression. And this makes me realize that if you want to learn more about how to care for your loved ones struggling with mental health issues, check out this amazing blog Be here.
Ways to Help Someone Struggling with Depression
As we said, depression isn’t just a feeling of despair or sadness that someone has; it is a mental health condition that needs to be treated like every other disease. Nevertheless, your care and company may make a difference in the healing of your loved one.
Your support can help them manage their depression symptoms, overcome their negative thinking, and regain vitality, positivity, and joy in life. Don’t forget to look after your mental well-being so you can provide all the assistance your loved one needs.
Here are some ways you can help:
Keep Yourself in Touch with Them
Let your friend know you’re available. Describe your worries and ask a particular question to open the discussion. Consider that your friend may prefer to talk about their feelings rather than accept advice. Interact with your companion using practical listening skills.
Instead of thinking you know what they mean, ask questions. Feel their emotions. Show compassion and curiosity with your body language. Keeping expressing your concern may be helpful since your friend might not feel like discussing it immediately. Don’t be forceful in sharing your concerns. Face-to-face conversations are best.
It’s All About Balance
Maintain a balance. It can be difficult not to feel obligated to help someone in need when they are in trouble. Providing assistance with housekeeping or preparing wholesome foods is helpful, but motivating them to do these tasks independently is equally essential. Each relative or friend will need a different level of assistance, so discuss with them what they might find helpful.
Likewise, don’t bind yourself to do their tasks. Your job is to ensure they resume their everyday life soon. For instance, you can keep a check on their diets to know whether they’re eating properly or not. Like if they’re taking ACV with their salads, they need to be aware of the safe consumption limits as well as the side effects of apple cider vinegar.
Be a Positive Person, not a Negative One
A person should never be judged. If you haven’t dealt with it yourself, you may not see why your relative or friend cannot snap out of depression. Keep in mind that your loved one is likely quite judgmental and unkind to themselves, so don’t point the finger at them or place extra pressure on them.
Help Them When They Need it
Providing them with assistance is important. You cannot force someone to seek assistance if they don’t wish to, so tell your loved one that asking for help is okay. Honesty is key. Some individuals may find it difficult to talk openly and honestly about their feelings. Feel comfortable talking about depression and other challenging feelings with your relative or friend.
Be Patient and Don’t Give Up
Therapy for depression typically results in improved symptoms, although the effort can be tricky and slow. Before finding one that relieves their symptoms, they may need to attempt a few different counseling techniques or medications. Even an effective treatment strategy does not guarantee a complete recovery from depression. Your friend might occasionally still experience symptoms.
They will undoubtedly experience both good and bad days in the interim. A good day should not be taken as a recovery, and you should refrain from losing patience if a sequence of bad days makes you believe your friend will never become better.
Remember that there is no specific timescale for recovering from depression. It will not assist either of you if you anticipate that your friend will feel like themselves within a few weeks of counseling. Additionally, you should encourage them to eat healthily since a healthy body leads to a healthy mind. Ask them to incorporate ACV in their everyday diet to reap the numerous health benefits of apple cider vinegar.
The Way Forward
Our dear ones need our support, especially if they exhibit signs of depression. Motivate your friends and family members to seek treatment for depression. Remember that sometimes all a person struggling with depression wants is reassurance that they aren’t alone, give them that.
