{"id":66112,"date":"2019-06-12T18:43:57","date_gmt":"2019-06-13T02:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=66112"},"modified":"2019-06-12T18:43:57","modified_gmt":"2019-06-13T02:43:57","slug":"how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Talk to Someone with Depression"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Depression\nis something that has always been around and most people will experience it at\nsome point in their lives, often without even realising it. If you are lucky\nenough to have never experienced it then it\u2019s can be difficult to understand\nhow it feels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much\nmore than just having a bad day, or going through a \u2018rough patch\u2019, depression\nis very serious and can have far-reaching consequences if left unchecked.\nDepression is a common mood disorder that can affect everything from social\ninteractions and family life to the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nare ways of speaking to those suffering from depression that avoid belittling\nthem or making them feel worse, as there is still an unacceptable stigma\nassociated with the disorder. Equally, there are ways of speaking that should\nbe avoided. In their guide\nto depression<\/a>,\nPsychology Tools explain that some of the most unhelpful things to say are\nthings like \u201ccome on, it\u2019s not that bad\u201d or telling someone they need to \u201cget\nover it\u201d.\n\nAs well as being disrespectful, this approach can only serve to\nreinforce the negative thoughts they are already having about themselves and\ntheir situation. This is why understanding is important when speaking to\nsomebody suffering from depression.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Should We Talk To Someone With Depression?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\nis important to let the person know that you are there\nfor them<\/a>,\nand want to help them. It\u2019s tempting to want to try and console them but this should\nbe avoided, despite your positive intentions this is actually dismissive of how\nthey feel and can make them feel worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equally important is to let them know how unique they are and how special they are to you. This kind of thing is much more meaningful and beneficial than saying something like \u201cthis happens to everybody at some point\u201d. Again, this is dismissive and unhelpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\npowerful as positive words can be, sometimes a hug can be just as important.\nDepending on your relationship with them, simply grabbing them may not be\nentirely appropriate, but there\u2019s certainly no harm in asking. Offering a hug\nis another way to show you understand how they are feeling and care about them,\nwhich can help reduce their feelings of negativity or low self-worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\ncan also be beneficial to remind them that depression is a mood and may pass.\nIt might be difficult or even impossible for them to remember a time when they\ndidn\u2019t feel depressed, so reminding them that it will pass, even if it means\nwith help, can give them a much-needed boost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helpful\nsuggestions are welcome also. Offering to go on a walk or helping them make a\nlist of the things they want to achieve that day. These small suggestions can\nhelp a person feel as though they\u2019re not alone and reminds them that they don\u2019t\nhave to face depression by themselves.\n\nWhichever approach you take, remember that empathy is welcome, pity is\nnot. Depression can be life-altering and should always be treated with care and\nunderstanding, try to imagine what it must feel like to have your feelings\ndismissed and try to avoid doing the same.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Depression is something that has always been around and most people will experience it at some point in their lives, often without even realising it. If you are lucky enough to have never experienced it then it\u2019s can be difficult … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14732,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[3709,24,21,6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Talk to Someone with Depression<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Depression is a common mood disorder that can affect everything from social interactions and family life to the workplace.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Talk to Someone with Depression\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Depression is a common mood disorder that can affect everything from social interactions and family life to the workplace.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-13T02:43:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/ptb-fb-profpic2-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Psychology Tools\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/\",\"name\":\"How to Talk to Someone with Depression\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-13T02:43:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-13T02:43:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6c8e921f8a898a042d2ce73d445988cb\"},\"description\":\"Depression is a common mood disorder that can affect everything from social interactions and family life to the workplace.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Talk to Someone with Depression\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6c8e921f8a898a042d2ce73d445988cb\",\"name\":\"Psychology Tools\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf01d910bbb39047a4a54da1c68dc076?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf01d910bbb39047a4a54da1c68dc076?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Psychology Tools\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/naomi-francis-parker\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Talk to Someone with Depression","description":"Depression is a common mood disorder that can affect everything from social interactions and family life to the workplace.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Talk to Someone with Depression","og_description":"Depression is a common mood disorder that can affect everything from social interactions and family life to the workplace.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_published_time":"2019-06-13T02:43:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/ptb-fb-profpic2-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@pickthebrain","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Psychology Tools","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/","name":"How to Talk to Someone with Depression","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-06-13T02:43:57+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-13T02:43:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6c8e921f8a898a042d2ce73d445988cb"},"description":"Depression is a common mood disorder that can affect everything from social interactions and family life to the workplace.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-talk-to-someone-with-depression\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Talk to Someone with Depression"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6c8e921f8a898a042d2ce73d445988cb","name":"Psychology Tools","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf01d910bbb39047a4a54da1c68dc076?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cf01d910bbb39047a4a54da1c68dc076?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Psychology Tools"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/naomi-francis-parker\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14732"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}