Want to know how you can help someone with depression? Come in and discover the best support you can give to depressed people through psychology. Together you can fight it.
According to various studies, over 40% of Spaniards will suffer from depression or anxiety throughout their lives. With these data, it is not uncommon that you have someone in your close circle that may suffer from depression or will suffer from it in the future.
Depressed people need professional support, but the support of their closest environment is also basic. The problem is that in most cases goodwill is not enough and we may say things that, although they have a good background, are not entirely appropriate. So much so that even though it is common to have a friend or family member in this state, many do not know how to help a person with depression. Thus, there are some basic attitudes that can show you how to act towards a depressed person.
How to help a depressed person?
When you are with someone who has a depressive state, the vital thing is to be there at the worst times. It will actually be very helpful for the depression because you will show the person they have your full support. Psychology can offer us some tips for depression and the help to give to someone who suffers from this condition.
- Listen to their problems
If you want to know how to encourage someone to come out of depression, you must first understand their situation. To do this, the best help for depression is just to listen to each one of their problems. Many times people tend to quickly say the solution to a problem, but in the face of depressive people, we should not do this. The reason is that knowing how to confront depression requires a lot of personal work, that is why the advice that others can give us does not work. So much so that doing this only makes the person feel frustrated in the face of depression. In these cases, it is better to listen to each one of their problems and above all know what not to tell someone with depression.
- Realize that you don’t know how they feel
One stigmata that most accompany a depressed person is that they suffer from it because they do not want to get out of that situation. Depression has both physical and psychological causes, so you can’t know what these people are feeling until you have this disease. Therefore, never assume that you know how to deal with other people’s depression because you don’t know what it is about. In these cases, you must show empathy in order to help the other person overcome the depression.
- Keep in touch
Friendship, family, and relationships must be there. Although it is sometimes difficult to help people with depression, it is important to be there when they need it most. That is why one way to know how to deal with a depressed person is to keep in constant contact with them. In this way, you will help them or help them at all times when they need it.
- You can’t cure depression
No matter how much you’ve read or reported, getting out of depression doesn’t just require talking to people and seeing where the problems come from. Many times, even though we mean well, we believe that with our advice depressed people will rebuild their lives. It is much more complicated than we can appreciate at first glance, and therefore to overcome depression we will have to leave behind our methods of coping with life.
- Help them participate in activities
One symptom of depression is isolation. So, if you don’t know what to do in the face of depression, good advice is to help the person take part in certain activities. If you know that sometimes they don’t go to various places because of their condition, encourage the depressed person to go. Above all, a good way to help people with depression is to exercise with them. For this reason, one of the best tips for depression is to sign up for a team sport.
- Take pride in your accomplishments
In many occasions when overcoming depression, the person will also have to improve both his self-esteem and his security. So much so that one of the best ways to support someone who is depressed will be to praise their virtues on the occasions when they show them. Be proud of their achievements, even the smallest ones. Frequently, the best way to know how to help a depressed person is just to promote positivity towards them. Therefore, it is essential to see the good side of all the actions you take during the day.
- Don’t embarrass them
Sometimes a depressed person feels much more shame than the rest. This happens because she feels more judged in front of others. Therefore, to help someone overcome depression it is vital not to embarrass them in front of others and above all to watch what we say about them.
- Avoid being too hard
Although there are more and more depressed people, there are still people today who have the conception that depression arises from a weakness in character. That is why you cannot help people with depression or achieve a method of coping with depression by being hard on them.
- Give them space
One of the most common symptoms of depression is irritability. Therefore, many times the profile of a depressed person is just someone in a bad mood. In these cases, it is essential to leave them some space but always respecting oneself.
- Take care of yourself
One of the vital points in knowing how to treat a person with depression is precisely to take care of you. Although it seems paradoxical frequently people who come to live with depression around them can end up taking the disease. This happens because of all the negative thoughts that surround the depressed person. Therefore, to support someone with depression, it is vital to take care of yourself.
- Encourage them to see a psychologist
Most times, the support of friends, family, or a partner can help a depressed person get out of this situation. But at other times it may require a more effective resource. In these cases, it is vital to encourage them to go to a professional or even accompany them in their first session so they can come out of the depression.
As you have seen, knowing how to help a person with depression is much more complicated than it seems at first glance. So much so that there are as many ways to deal with depression as there are people. But the important thing in these cases is to know that the best help for depression is the unconditional support of those closest to you.
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