As you can imagine, anytime I see an article or video about depression I am curious. Lately, it seems I have been hearing a lot about the stories of people who have experienced depression. In what I have heard, one of the big themes that has come up is how depressed people want to be treated, and that is what I would like to touch on today.
While I will make some generalizations here, it should be noted that not everyone will agree. However, I also think these are some good rules of thumb to use at first, and then you can modify your behavior from there if needed.
The answer to how to talk to a depressed person is pretty simple. How would you talk to someone who has a broken leg? How would you talk to someone who has cancer? How would you want someone to talk to you? The answer to those questions is the same as how you would talk to someone with depression. From what I have heard, depressed people want to be included, just like anyone else. They also want to feel like they can contribute, so asking them for favors is not out of the question. They may not feel up to those actions, but asking alone can be helpful for depressed individuals. A couple of other tips: first, don’t tell them to cheer up, and second, don’t stay away from them. Your connection is important, and depression is not contagious.
As you have noticed, talking to a depressed person does not have to be any different from talking to anyone else. In fact, there are probably many times that you have talked to someone who is depressed and you didn’t even know that fact about them. In the end, treat a depressed person like anyone else – they are no different than someone who has a physical condition.