Helping the Depressed: Act Before the Slippery Slope

 

 Some phases of our lives make us feel depressed. Many great politicians, movie stars, and sportspersons have fallen prey to depression but successfully overcame it. You can see that depression isn't uncommon. Moreover, it is not something to be concealed. It is definitely curable with the right treatment. Unfortunately, the suicide rate of depressed people has become a serious issue. 

It's the responsibility of friends, family, and relatives to treat the depressed person with care. You must remember that the depressed person is not just another pessimist. He/she might be suffering on a deeper level. We can't just force them to be positive, telling them that everything will be alright.

 We gotta know what kinda traumatic condition they went through by digging into their past. Medication is always recommended before or at the later stages of depression. Meditation is the solution to many life problems and depression is no exception. 

Below you will find 4 ways apart from medication and meditation to deal with those going through the early stages of depression. 

 

1. Tell Them to Write it Down

The habit of writing things down is a great one. It makes our vision clear. Moreover, we don't have to remember everything as we write it down. As the previous idea is noted down, we can move to a new idea and note it down too. So the mental space is consumed for the generation of new ideas and not for memorizing or remembering the previous idea in depth. 

The same concept can be helpful for a depressed patient in a different way. It is said that when we write down our sorrows, we make them less painful. In other words, the sorrow finds a way to release out of the heart. The pen and the paper are cleaning agents for our intricate minds. For anyone who feels depressed, writing down the feelings will make him/her emotionally lighter as if a lot of burdens are released from their shoulders. Moreover, the habit of writing also helps a depressed person gain some clarity in thoughts. 

Additionally, with the help of writing, depressed people can reach the root of the trauma they suffered. They can think and start writing everything right from the first time they felt depressed, to their current thought process. This is like self-excavating the root cause. 

After all, the need to get noticed or the need to express is repressed in depressed patients. If they feel lonely and think that no one is close to them to share their thoughts, at least they can write it down to lower their pain. 

2. Be friends with Them  

There are many things in society that feed depression. Depressed people need to free up themselves and re-plant the seeds of self-worth. For doing this they need the support of their well-wishers who empathize with them. As friendship is the best relation in the world, you can be friends with depressed people around you. 

A depressed mind needs a friend who listens to his/her problems. The world around them is hopeless and the people they deal with always treat them like shit, ignoring what they want to say. Before things get worst, approach them and become their genuine friends. 

They need a friend who listens to their tragedy, a friend who understands how badly they are affected, a friend who hugs them, a friend who can be a shoulder to cry on, and a friend who subtly pulls them away from the toxic thoughts, inviting them to a new world they can walk in and free up themselves. A world where they have you. You are the one who is there for them. A world where they regain a strong sense of self-worth. They can later help someone else going through depression by offering a trustworthy friendship. 

Later, you may or may not be with them, but till then they will overcome the depression and emerge as mentally tough beings. They will remember the time when you pulled them out of depressive quicksand by offering a hand of pure friendship. 

3. Listen and then Explain 

Most of the folks, mainly those who are extreme extroverts have one problem. They are ready to give free advice to almost everyone they meet. But they don't sit quietly and listen to what people have to say. This attitude irritates many of us mostly when we are trying to say something and these shitheads don't try to listen and go on babbling. 

Though you feel the urge to make a depressed person feel happy, you can't bombard their mind with positive pieces of advice. This doesn't work for two reasons. Firstly, because you don't know what the hell he/she is going through. Secondly, that's not the right way to treat depression. 

 If you still want to try it, then you are the one responsible if the depressed person freaks out and things get worst. You just have to change the sequence. Be a good listener, listen to everything even if you don't feel like listening. Your listening may save the patient from reaching the later stages of depression. 

As mentioned in the second point, become the depressed person's friend. Listen to their problems. And then after reaching a point where you feel like they are feeling better by sharing their trouble with you, you must subtly start giving some advice. In this way, you have to build good trust, without making any fun of their negative statements about life.   

4. Compliment and then Criticize in a Healthy Way 

This is strictly applicable to the very early stages of depression. Take an example of a corporate scenario. Let's suppose a man who is your employee, is suffering from a bit of depression. As a leader,  you have the responsibility to get things done correctly. If you understood that this man has made mistakes in his work. How will you deal with him?

Just like the typical horrible corporate boss or a sensible leader?

Rather than pointing out his mistakes, you should value his position in your company. You can compliment him for the good work he is doing. Then gently you have to bring his attention to his mistakes. This should be done by keeping in mind that he is going through depression. You should adjust your tonality and expressions accordingly. 

In reality, this type of approach should be maintained with the non-depressed employees too. After all, they deserve to be treated fairly. Your work is done by creating a win-win situation for both you and your employees. Even the strategy of complimenting and then criticizing healthily makes you an influential person in the eyes of your colleague, employees, leaders, and even friends. 

While dealing with your depressed friend you should not be rude to him/her. Say 'No' to give lethal advice to depressive people. You can advise them afterward when they are feeling far more hopeful than before about their life. 

To sum up, stop being insensitive to their problems, listen, empathize, and then use a few life's philosophical doses sparingly to bring back that wide grin on their face which you and their mirror are missing.

  

Note: (The Images in this post are downloaded from the royalty-free image sites)