With the highly development of society, depression is increasing. Today I’m going to talk to you about how to help friends with severe depression.
Patients with severe depression typically exhibit symptoms of low mood, slowed thinking, and reduced willpower, which are considered very typical symptoms of severe depression. These patients often have very obvious symptoms, but not all symptoms will appear in all patients.
The treatment of severe depression must involve necessary medical interventions including psychotherapy, medication, physical therapy, etc. However, apart from standardized medical interventions, patients face many family and friends, and even society. How to help severe depression is the key point I’m going to explain today.
When it comes to patients with severe depression, how can we help them?
1. Don’t treat depression patients as patients
Most depression patients are particularly afraid of diagnosis and have a strong rebellious psychology, especially afraid of being seen as different from normal people. Depression patients are not because they lack love and care, deliberately saying they are ill. So almost all patients, especially severe depression patients, are unwilling to tell family and friends the fact that they are ill. But conversely, when severe depression patients know that family and friends are aware of their illness, they will be very happy to see themselves as normal people and will be very willing to share some of their uncomfortable feelings with family and friends. Regular communication and interaction opens up a channel for communication with severe depression patients, making it easier to communicate with family and friends and not to isolate themselves. For example, you can say in my eyes you are just like any other normal person, just tell me directly if anything is on your mind.
2. Provide more positive encouragement and support, actively engage in appropriate communication
Severely depressed patients are very sensitive and fragile, and sometimes a simple phrase can worsen their condition. Therefore, in the course of communication, you must pay attention to your language, provide positive encouragement and support, and engage in appropriate communication to alleviate the patient’s negative emotions. For example, citing cases more severe than depression patients who were able to cooperate effectively in treatment and communication. And facing life positively, eventually fully recovering. This can give the patient confidence and hope. Don’t say things like stop being so dramatic and stop thinking about death. Avoid such phrases, as they may bring negative emotions and increase the patient’s stress, having the opposite effect. Throughout the comforting process, do not be perfunctory, show genuine care and encouragement, express love and affirmation for the saddened. Show tolerance, understanding, and care for the series of attitudes and behaviors presented by severely depressed patients.
3. Don’t leave the patient alone, engage in positive and beneficial activities
As family and friends, you should take depressed patients out more when possible, go for a walk, go shopping, even travel, to express the positive meaning of life with more positive attitudes and actions for the patient to feel. For example, shopping, eating good food, watching a comedy movie together, to make the patient feel that there are many fun and meaningful things in life waiting for them to experience and do. Allow patients to effectively overcome depressive emotions, gradually detaching from the state of depression. To a certain extent, this can divert the patient’s attention from depressive emotions and give them a more meaningful feeling of their own life.
4. Leave professional matters to professionals
For most severely depressed patients, they have the following personal experiences: their experiences are unique and exclusive, something that others in the world may not understand, but their pain and discomfort can be seen, yet the pain of many patients is often overlooked by most. If as family and friends, you are not good at encouraging listening, you can recommend the patient to seek professional counseling from a psychological consultant for scientifically standardized counseling. Avoid worsening the condition inadvertently, as this will further exacerbate the condition of severely depressed patients. And in cases where there is a clear tendency for severe depression, such as suicidal or self-harming behavior, one should promptly seek professional psychiatric examination and avoid suppressing the patient on your own.
5. For patients with severe depression, family and friends should accompany them to the hospital for regular medical intervention:
Psychotherapy includes mainly supportive psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, and family therapy. In addition, combined medication therapy is essential, mainly using antidepressant medications, which must be taken under the guidance of a doctor, it is important not to stop medication on your own. Furthermore, physical therapy like repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment, electric shock therapy, etc., can be combined for auxiliary treatment, effectively alleviating some symptoms of depression, significantly reducing the mortality rate from suicidal actions.
Merely the help of family and friends for severe cases of severe depression has very limited effect on alleviating the patient’s condition, it is essential to cooperate with doctors for treatment, first actively engaging in physical and medication treatment, after the patient’s symptoms improve, one can then try to guide the patient according to the principles mentioned above. One should not rely solely on guidance and psychotherapy for the patient.
Through friends, family, society, and necessary medical interventions, it is important to believe that patients with severe depression can fully recover, ignite hope in life, and continue moving forward.
