Helping a depressed family member or friend can be pretty hard in the beginning, especially if you have had no previous experiences with this and you do not know where to start. What you need are good strategies on how to convince someone to get help for depression.
Your Starting Point
Knowing how to help someone with depression starts with getting the person to recognize the fact that he does have a problem. Cite examples of depression that you notice in the person such as a decrease in social activity or laziness. Getting him to realize that he needs help is best done in this manner, followed by encouraging him to talk about how he feels and just simply be there to listen and not to judge.
When the dam has broken, it is a good time to convince him that he might need extra help in treating the condition. Always say that asking for help does not make him weak – it means he is strong enough to admit that he has a problem and he is willing to try out all avenues to help him manage it.
Research Matters
On your part as the support, it pays to do a lot of research on depression. Read up on the topic and know everything you can about it so you fully understand where the other person is coming from and what are the best things you can do to help him at any given time. Being the support does not mean telling him to snap out of the moody feeling because that does not work.
What is more effective is to always offer to help by getting him to suggest what you can do. Aside from this form of emotional support, you can also do a lot to help fight depression with so many different forms of physical support. Engage the depressed friend or family member in different types of activities that will have him moving around a lot, such as biking or swimming or doing errands together.
The companionship is encouraging, and the amount of physical activity is good for his body so it is able to cope with the depression better. Other things you can do is to always stay alert for any suicidal tendencies, updating the network of friends and family members regarding progress in the condition, and keeping yourself in close contact with the depressed person so he does not feel that he is being abandoned.