9 tips to help a person with depression

Depression is a disease that affects 5% of the Spanish population, according to studies carried out this year. Therefore, most people know, or even live with, someone who suffers from depression to a greater or lesser degree.

In view of these statistics and the difficulties that this condition entails, it is convenient to know how we can accompany these people, making their day to day a little easier. Therefore, in this article we will review several tips to help a person with depression, taking into account that this is a psychopathology that can be very serious.

• Related article: "Major Depression: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment"

How to identify a person with depression?

First of all, it is necessary to clarify that, despite speaking of depression in general terms, it can present itself in different ways and to many degrees depending on the person. However, there are a series of common feelings or thoughts that tend to prevail in all people affected by depression, and that help to identify this psychopathology.

Likewise, in order to help a depressed person, or at least make things easier for them while they are in the process of recovery, it is necessary to know first how you feel and what you think, albeit in an approximate way. Knowing what are those feelings and beliefs that flood the mind of a person with depression, it will be easier for family and friends to accompany them. This happens by putting aside prejudices about what "people with mental health problems" are supposed to be. mental health" (a concept that in many cases is associated with many stereotypes and a certain stigmatization).

There are some psychopathologies similar to major depression, although in most cases it is alterations that are encompassed within the concept of mood disorders. For this reason, although it may be useful to know, for example, the differences between unipolar depression and depressive episode in bipolar disorder, or the keys to ddistinguish between major depressive disorder and dysthymia, it is generally mental health professionals who care to take these nuances into account; The tips that we will see later usually help in all the ways that a mood disorder with depressive symptoms can present.

Some of the thoughts and feelings of a person with depression are the following.

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1. Self devaluation, hopelessness and grief

Depressive mood is characterized by being accompanied by feelings of hopelessness and guilt, feelings that cause great affliction in the person who experiences them.

Usually, the depressed person thinks that there is nothing that can be done to improve or fix their situation, as well as experiencing great inconsideration or contempt for themselves.

Since the person is perfectly aware both of his suffering and of the anguish that this causes in the people around him, feelings of guilt for causing suffering in others they are also very common.

All these reflections end up causing an anxious symptomatology in the person that is externalized through palpitations, tremors, a sensation of suffocation and a very general malaise incapacitating.

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2. Need for social isolation

Due to previous thoughts and beliefs, it is common for the person suffering from depression to end up rejecting a large part of their social life and relationships. This need for solitude or isolation can end up degenerating into almost total isolation and personal abandonment.

At the same time, this isolation aggravates feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness so it becomes a vicious cycle for the person.

3. feeling of lack of energy

The lack of strength or energy to carry out any type of activity, however simple or elementary it may be, is one of the main symptoms or regrets that the person refers to.

4. Fluctuations and changes in symptomatology

It is common for people suffering from depression to experience a series of fluctuations in your mood throughout the day. Just like the intensity of the symptoms does not have to be stable during the development of the disease.

Most patients report that their symptoms are milder in the afternoon and that the discomfort is almost always accentuated in the morning. These cyclical ups and downs generate great anxiety in the person, which anticipates and tries to predict when she is going to feel bad.

How to help the person with depression?

Although the above points are only a small part of the wide range of symptoms, feelings and thoughts that can circulate through the mind of a person with depression, knowing them can be of great help to time of try to help and accompany her during recovery.

It is necessary to point out that this is not therapy and that for a person with depression to be able to overcome it, psychological intervention through a professional is necessary. Below are a number of suggestions to help anyone experiencing this type of affliction.

1. Suggest the help of a professional

As mentioned above, no matter how good the intentions of those who intend to help a person depressed, accompaniment and non-professional advice cannot by itself cure a person with depression.

The first thing to keep in mind is that Depression is a disease that can be very serious., and therefore therapeutic intervention by a professional is necessary.

In this case, something that can be done is to persuade the person and convince them to seek help or psychological assistance. Although this task will not be easy, it is extremely necessary. Through calm conversations and with a lot of tact and subtlety, the family should insist on the idea of ​​visiting a professional and, if necessary, offer to accompany him.

2. Avoid life advice

Although the willingness to help is always positive, the suggestions to encourage the person through advice to make them feel better, to reflect on what she has, or through constant invitations to go out and do activities are absolutely ineffective, even becoming counterproductive and causing more discomfort in the person.

3. Take into account the complexes associated with gender

Various investigations show that gender roles and stereotypes about what it means to be "a man" and "a woman" can get in the way of seeking help by people suffering from depression. For example, many men find exposing their emotional vulnerabilities humiliating, making it more difficult for them to commit to the process of improving their mental health; and many women decide to stop prioritizing their well-being in order not to stop giving support to their loved ones from the role of "mother" or "wife".

Thus, in order to help a person with depression, one must consider whether that individual is prone to being affected by these gender roles. and talk to her about her problem in a way that doesn't make her feel guilty or ashamed for giving her mental health the importance it deserves. deserves.

4. stay by your side

That said, what a person with depression really needs is that the people around you show empathy, that they express their understanding and that they can be by her side when they need it.

5. Strengthen your strengths

Due to the decrease in self-esteem and the undervaluation that he suffers, the depressed person tends to reject and not admit the advances that she makes during the treatment process. These people tend to highlight their deficiencies or shortcomings and ignore their potential and successes.

To help him, it is vital that his closest circles are able to emphasize those skills, abilities or successes that the person possesses.

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6. respect his silence

It does not make any sense to force or force a person with depression to speak or transmit what they feel, as well as to be sociable, since It's not something that's in your control. This type of rapprochement attempts tend to cause more tension and feelings of misunderstanding in the person.

7. convey hope

The feelings of hopelessness associated with depression lock the person in a tunnel from which they are unable to see the exit. Therefore, it is advisable that family members or people around you transmit to you, through a coherent discourse and without being overly optimistic, that despite the fact that now he is not able to see it, there is a way out.

It is necessary to convince him that depression is a disease with treatment and a cure and that if he follows the intervention guidelines he will get better.

8. Do not ask for explanations

On many occasions, and with the intention of trying to understand what is happening in order to help, the person is pressured to try to tell what causes this suffering. However, depression is not a disease caused by a single factor, and in most cases not even the person himself knows what has led him to such an extreme.

Therefore, asking for rational explanations when the person is not in a rational situation does not make any sense, and it will only trigger feelings of frustration and irritation.

9. Take care of your own emotional health

Finally, it is necessary that whoever accompanies the depressed person through their recovery is able to avoid the possible psychological effects that this may cause.

Depressive moods can be contagious if the person is not aware of it. Seeing someone you love suffer can trigger great emotional discomfort, so the person must be protected from this possible risk.