How to Help Someone Who is Depressed

People NEED someone to talk to about depression. How to help someone who is depressed begins with being there for him. You can be that person.

I scour the web on a daily basis, looking for stories that relate to disabilities so that I can bring them to you in order to help you become more aware of how we can better address these concerns by way of such things a learning how to advocate for them, to help them advocate for themselves, to confront the stigmas that are plastered upon them, and to, well, basically, help the world know that they are first and foremost people.

The one subject that I get the most daily information on is depression. The amount of stories I get makes all the other disabilities that I try to keep my thumb on pale in comparison. This is big, and I hope what I am about to tell you will stick.

Depression can be deadly. If a person gets to this point in his life, NOTHING seems to matter. Shower him with compliments, and he may ask you “What’s the use?” Try to offer even a gentle laugh into his sour day, and he could ask “did I do something wrong?” Try to take two steps forward with him, and he could interpret it as two steps closer to disappointment.

So, the story that I quickly posted about on my twitter page [see here] and on my facebook page [see here] about death of pro hockey player, Ryan Rupien [insert link here] is just another wake up call to keep our eyes and ears opened toward helping our classmates, our fellow work associates, our friends, neighbors to be there for them when they just are having or beginning to have a hard time being there for themselves.

It is so unfortunate that people, like Ryan, died. We can heap guilt upon us for not being there for him, for not stepping up to the plate and taking the next step to help him when he wanted to isolate. We can live with regrets of what we could of, and should of, and ought to have done. But the very sad reality is that such a promising individual’s life was cut short.

While my heart goes out to his family, to his friends, to his teammates, wishing and hoping and praying that they will be able to put their lives back together from the void that Ryan has left, the sobering reality is that this man’s life is over.

Period. Done. Can’t go back.

I write in this manner not to be cruel but to, hopefully, help us realize that there are times when we just don’t get that second chance in life to help someone. So while living with the regret of his death is an option to us all, I would like to posit that we live with the attitude of being there for whomsoever has depression, remembering the countless number of individuals who currently do have depression. Approximately 1:10 Americans and about 1:100 world wide. Though these numbers are staggering, I want to encourage you to simply take a few moments and make a commitment to being there for those in your own ‘neck of the woods’.

Being there by realizing that you don’t need a PhD to be observant of any discomfort you recognize in one you know.
Being there by realizing that you don’t need to be a world champ weight lifter in order to be strong enough to make the right decisions for your friend who is not wanting to make them for himself.
Being there by realizing that you don’t need to amass hundreds of hours in caregiving before you connect from the heart with that person who is struggling.

Depression IS a killer. We can’t stop THAT connection. We CAN, though, create a path of hope for that person with depression by offering him our helping hand.

I am giving you a link to one of my worksheets on depression. Simply reviewing it may help you to improve your own stance towards this crippling and deadly mental illness.

People matter. You matter. Let’s do this together.

Contact me, if I can be of any further assistance.

Blessings as you move forward,

Michael