Although mental health has been a hush-hush topic until recently, a disorder like depression has often been easy to acquire for people of all ages. If a person gets laid off work and cannot find a new job after months of applying here and there, he or she tends to clam up and lose their confidence. In case someone experienced heartbreak for the nth time, he or she may question his or her lovability and cry over the broken relationship in the bedroom for days.
The reality is that being in this circumstance is not only hurtful for the depressed individual. It is especially debilitating for a friend or family member like you who sees their loved one practically live half a life. You want to make him or her understand that there’s more to do in this lifetime than to mope around the house. You wish he or she will at least smile when you crack a joke to ensure that your beloved is still somewhere in that seemingly empty shell. Dr. Kurt Smith, LMFT, LPCC, AFC once started that “We all experience these ups and downs, and most of the time we get through the downs and move on to better times. But for many of us certain situations at can trigger an episode of depression and make us feel a hopelessness that won’t go away.”
To someone you care for overcome depression, you should invigorate him or her to seek therapy soon.
Offer To Search For A Therapist
When you manage to talk to your troubled friend or relative on a good day, you ought to ask what kind of counselor he or she wants to meet if ever. Should it be a man or woman? Does the mental health professional have to have a passive or active technique? Will your loved one prefer an individual or group therapist?
Once you have all of their basic requirements down, you can then look for a counselor who fits the bill. Ask for recommendations from colleagues; drive across town to find therapists who can help the depressed person you know. This way, you will have several counselors to present to him or her in time. Because “While therapy can be challenging, it can also be the catalyst that allows you to live a more fulfilled and peaceful life.” Julie Simon, PsyD said.
Take Your Loved One To Various Trips
“Whether you suffer from seasonal affective disorder or not, the evidence is strong that getting outside just for a little bit can be very helpful.” Andrea Bonior, PhD, clinical psychologist said. You will undoubtedly hear much grumbling from someone who has depression when you announce that you are bringing him or her on a trip. This person wants to stay indoors at this point with all the curtains drawn and the lights off. He or she will not appreciate veering through crowds or sightseeing. Regardless of that, you should still make him or her tag along with you to keep the depression from further engulfing his or her system. The time off the dark corners of the house can hopefully alter their perspective and encourage the person to see a therapist.
Make The Person See The Reality
Assuming you are getting frustrated with how unmoved the individual is despite your efforts to help, feel free to let your inner tiger (or tigress) out. Tell him or her that what’s been lost in the past can never be brought back even by their endless brooding and self-isolating. You can also enumerate the things he or she will eventually miss if the depression goes on, namely their family, friends, career, and lifelong dreams.
On a regular basis, counselors will never use this trick. They will wait for the troubled person to realize this truth on their own, no matter how long it may take. However, you are not a therapist, and you are not acting judgmental in this manner. You are merely a concerned fellow who wants to see this depressed individual live again, so you can get away with serving him or her with facts of life.
In Conclusion
Don’t hesitate to think of the mental disorder as a parasite. It feeds off of the person it reigns over; it’s super lively when the depressed fellow does nothing exciting and stays hopeless. As soon as you get to distract him or her from negative thinking, though, his or her old self might resurface enough to agree to get therapy.
