When someone you love struggles with a severe depressive disorder, you may not know what to do or how to react. Fortunately, there are several ways of helping someone with depression. By learning what the condition entails, you can give your loved one with depression the care they require as they navigate the severe symptoms of the illness and recovery.
Depression disorders are severe mental illnesses that can interfere with relationships, work, schooling, and family bonds. For this reason, it’s essential to learn the different methods to the best care and support a loved one who is struggling with depression.
Lend an Ear and Listen Without Judging
One of the best things to do for people with depressive disorders is to lend an ear. When a loved is struggling with depression, the best therapeutic moments can come when you sit together while they vent, or even cry.
Listening and offering emotional support makes a positive difference to people with depression. A listening ear is vital because depressed people frequently detach and withdraw from others.
To provide support to a loved one, listen with understanding—step inside the individual’s shoes, and show that you care. Sometimes, trying to alleviate the symptoms or telling them what to do might not help but worsen the situation.
Conduct Research to Help Your Loved One With Depression
Before you help someone with depression, it would be best first to conduct extensive research and learn as much as possible about the ailment. Learn what the depression symptoms look like, and try to comprehend the condition. It’s essential to identify depression as a sickness similar to other common ones, including cancer and diabetes.
Furthermore, realize that although you comprehend how depression manifests, this is not the same as dealing with the condition yourself.
According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the most common signs of depression to look out for include:
- Anxiety, irritability, and moodiness
- Inability to concentrate
- Change in appetite
- Loss of interest in pleasurable hobbies or activities
- Unexplained aches and pain
- Excessive or insufficient sleep
- Lack of energy or lethargy
Distractions and Productive Activities
Trying to get a loved one with depression to be active and lively can seem like a losing battle. Nevertheless, even convincing a depressed person to accompany you into another room of the house is one small step towards recovery. Over time, you’ll graduate to sitting or jogging outside, which helps to manage the condition.
Don’t lose hope when you offer a suggestion, and they refuse. Understand that it’s a symptom of the mental condition, but your motivation, encouragement, and constant support are essential for recovery.
Help With Daily Chores
Don’t encourage inactivity. However, helping a person with depression with chores such as cooking, cleaning the dishes, or answering emails can relieve loneliness, despair, sorrow, or stress.
For example, you can offer to vacuum the house or babysit so that your loved one can leave the house and attend to outside activities. Logistical obstacles to getting out of the house environment can feel devastating to somebody dealing with depression.
Seek Professional Help at Rehab
At the Northern Illinois Recovery Center, we offer a wide range of anxiety treatment programs, such as:
- Depression treatment program
- Family therapy program
- Dialectical behavioral therapy
- Prescription drug addiction treatment
- A young adult rehab program
- Sober living program
- 12-step program
Our mental health experts understand that it can be difficult for a loved one with depression to take the first initiative to seek treatment. Therefore, offer support by making the appointment and attending sessions with your loved one. Contact the Northern Illinois Recovery Center at 855.786.1978 for more details.
