Let them know they are not alone!

If any of your close ones are going through some stage of depression it is time for us to reach out to them and seek professional help. However according to me, without knowing the reason for depression, any advice given will be a bet that you will be playing on your friend. Its like doctor “prescribing before diagnosing” and that’s what people do in general. There are several stages of depression and it’s common for people to not share the complete reason, even to their friends and family, when they suffer from depression or stress like things.

It is very common that people often don’t know how to react when they hear words like, ‘mental illness’. As we have spent years learning how to read and write, how to speak. But what about listening? A person is either speaking or preparing to speak, he never practice listening to understand.

As Stephen Covey says in his famous book " 7 habits of highly successful people ", the unconditional love is most necessary when it comes to Empathetic Listening (listen to understand). The trust (the feeling of safeness he experiences when you are close to him) that you both have build over time, makes easier for the person to open up completely. Listen with ears and heart. According to studies, only 10 percent of our communication is represented by words we say. Another 30 percent is represented by our sounds and 60 percent by our body language. You need to listen for feeling, for meaning and for behaviour.

Psychological analysis is what a normally a person responds with one of the four important autobiographical responses like evaluating either quickly agree or strongly disagree then probe by asking a question from own frame of reference followed by advising or giving counsel based on our own experiences and finally interpreting what we try to figure people out, to explain their motives and behaviour, based on our own motives and behaviour.

When you rephrase the content and reflect the feeling more objectively, and once you got the true and the deepest reason for you friend’s depression. It will be way more easy for you to help your friend. You yourself may come up with some ideas. Always remember you have the choice to visit a doctor and talking to experts as well via hotline numbers as anonymous.

Make them do what they couldn't do until now. Make them do what they have always dreamed of doing. Make them do that they could not when they held themselves back due to some absurd reasons. We can survive on instant gratification like every day doing something which makes you felt good. Like you can cook the recipes that you knew and also try new recipes using some new stuff. This would make the person feel good.

If the friend is having issues with mental health, he or she did not have too much fun which other people do in their college. But for example if your friend is good in dancing, you should take them to some party, and you may find that he or she dances very well it would obviously boost the confidence. It may so happen once it ended, that everybody would be willing to learn dance from your friend.

Or may be writing a personal blog, kind of a diary. Like I was writing everything that I used to feel like. Every thing that I intend to do in future. It was like talking to someone. Telling them what it is all that you feel. And trust me, it feels good to write your thoughts. Take to writing seriously and you would get tremendous feel out of the responses you get from the readers. Or you could also learn photography. Take some tutorials from professionals or go on the internet to learn photography. And it was one of the things that I always wanted to learn about and it gives a new high to us mentally that we can do some awesome photographs.

There are several things you could do like changing your wardrobe with all new clothes, o go on travel to new places with a guided tor or even go on wandering aimlessly with some good friend who will be able to support you when you need it. Self confidence need to be built up slowly and the person going through depression tendencies can come out it for sure.

Basically what I will suggest is to go out there in the open. Make them do anything, anything however weird that might be for other people, make them do it for themselves. Motivate them. Talk to them often. Listen to them patiently. Comfort them. Tell them funny stories. Don't wait for things to get normal. Don't wait for them to get out of depression. Make them do things and they will take them out of their depression. Cheers!