How to Deal with Someone with Depression?-Right Ways to Support
In this post, we will see how to deal with someone with depression because it is very important to be aware of the right behavior that one must adapt while dealing with a depressed person in order to avoid troubles that could arise from the differences in emotional states between them.
I would first like to clarify that I am not a therapist or a doctor and whatever I am going to discuss with you here is something which I have learned from different sources and my own experiences.
Depression is a very serious affliction and it equally affects the closed ones of the individual suffering from it because it makes them frustrated due to their inability to offer any appropriate help.
It is not only your responsibility to support your beloved one who is suffering from this illness but, it is also very essential for their recovery, although it may seem like you can’t help them.
What you find as your incapability in helping that person is actually your lack of understanding of the true situation.
You can only do any good to a person having depression when you act by keeping in mind a few things.
I am going to write those points below that will enable you to offer true support to a person with this emotional trouble:-
– Learn about the Disease
It is very important that you should first do a little research about depression because you must learn how to behave with depressed people if you are willing to assist them in overcoming that state.
If you don’t have a proper idea of this mental state then it is possible that your behavior may act as a catalyst to their pain. Since, in this case, you may fail to see the seriousness of the situation so, their hostility might appear as a deliberate action to you which can affect your relationship with them.
– Take Good Care of Yourself
If the person suffering from depression is very close to you then their situation can affect your life very badly and it can cause emotional troubles for you also.
You just can’t help someone else if you are not perfectly alright. So, first ensure that you are in a good state of mind before you try to solve someone else’s problem.
Make sure to be totally prepared mentally to face whatever comes up when you are trying to help a depressed person.
– Don’t Give Advises
It is very usual for people to give advice to those who are suffering from emotional pain. In fact, it is very hard to stop yourself from advising the affected person because you can clearly see that the reasons that they find to feel negative about life are unwarranted.
But, if you will try to falsify their way of thinking then it is very obvious that they will lose trust in you and from there you won’t be able to help them because they won’t feel connected to you anymore.
Establishing a connection with such people is most important, they need your presence, not your opinions.
– Be a Good Listener and Be Supportive
In the above point, we saw how it is wise to not try to make an emotionally disturbed person to do what is right from your viewpoint. Then what else can you do?
Assure that person that you are there for them and ask them what you can do for making them feel better.
Just by simply listening to that individual even when they are saying irrelevant and senseless things (often cynical) you can help them feel better.
– Avoid Making Them Act Forcefully
Taking appropriate actions to improve their condition is essential but, don’t try to forcefully make them do something.
Be very careful that you should not appear as if you know better than them.
Once a depressed person comes out of hopelessness they automatically get directed towards doing something about their situation.
– Don’t Compare
This again is one of the very common things that people do to a person having emotional issues, they try to show them that it happens to everyone and that it is not as huge as they are making it.
Even though they are using comparisons for the wellness of that person but, they feel disconnected from others when someone tells them that their problem is not serious.
– Patience
While dealing with a depressed person, be very prepared to face continuous emotional dramas and verbal attacks.
High-level patience is needed to stay unaffected by the tantrums such people might throw at you and you will have to bear it for a long time because the improvement happens very gradually in such cases.
– Avoid Reaction but “Communicate”
As we saw in the above point, emotionally disturbed people may try to hurt your emotions. When it happens you should not “react”, it would be difficult but you should control yourself.
Keep reminding yourself in such times that it is not the other person but, their “depression” speaking.
Next, you should communicate your feelings to them in a healthy way. See, if you will “react” then you will involuntarily do something to hurt them back but, when you will act after thinking you will be able to connect with them deeply by sharing your true feelings.
– Let Them Express Their Feelings
Mostly, people stop depressed people to express their emotions because they find it totally unjustified.
It is true that in such mind states a person tries to stick to their feelings using reasons that might appear groundless to others.
Despite of what reason a person has chosen to feel bad, one must allow them to express their emotions without trying to show their reality.
Once a person has released their emotion theu might naturally be able to see that their thoughts were irrational.
– Express Love
Love indeed is powerful and a great cure for misery. So, you should find ways to express your love to this person who is depressed because once they will start to know their importance in your life, he will take actions to heal themselves.
This is not as simple as it sounds because such people won’t reciprocate the good feelings instead, they won’t even believe you and it is not easy to express genuine love when it is not valued but, if you can, then it can really make a big difference.
– Medical Help
Unlike the physical ailments, nobody likes to admit their mental sickness. And people who have serious emotional issues are most reluctant to the idea of seeking a medical treatment.
If you will try to take them to a psychiatrist, they might feel insulted and embarrassed.
In this case, you can first take them to a general physician because when they would hear it from a professional person it won’t look like something offensive.
If a person stays depressed for a long time then it is very important to find a professional aid.
My chronic depression got cured with the help of the transformation hypnotherapy that I learned from Marisa Peer’s Uncompromised Life course, it worked very well for me because it resolved some deep psychological issues I had related to my childhood, so I hope it will also be useful for anyone who is suffering from any kind of emotional trouble.
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