Im depressed how do i tell someone

Share on Pinterest Listening and offering support and encouragement can be the best ways to help someone with depression. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day at How and when to talk. Other ways to be supportive. What not to say. Latest news Scientists identify new cause of vascular injury in type 2 diabetes. Adolescent depression: Could school screening help? Related Coverage. How to help a teen with depression. How to support a partner with depression. Is there a cure for depression?

What is high-functioning depression? Medically reviewed by Janet Brito, Ph. Remember to listen first. You can also be more specific to what you love about them or how you appreciate them for something they do.

The purpose of this is to simply acknowledge that you realize how hard it is for them. Acknowledging how hard depression and its symptoms can be can help them feel seen. But they can help. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention , there are three categories of suicide warning signs to look out for:. What a person says can be an important indicator of suicidal ideations. If someone talks about killing themselves, feeling hopeless, being a burden, having no reason to live, or feeling trapped, be concerned.

Behaviors to watch for include:. Depression, anxiety, loss of interest, or irritability are all moods that can indicate someone is considering suicide. They may display one or more of these moods in varying degrees. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, help is out there.

The National Suicide Prevention Hotline offers you a toolkit for supporting people on social media , down to specific platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Support — both social support and professional — is important. Encourage your loved ones and friends to seek help for their depression or suicidal thoughts. Know the warning signs to help prevent suicide, and use these seven ways to help you start talking to someone with depression.

Being specific in regards to both the time and the activity can be helpful. For example, instead of saying "Is there anything I can do for you? Remember, too, that the help you think your friend may need may not match with what would actually be beneficial in their eyes. Suggest—and listen. If your friend has not yet seen a doctor, encourage them to seek help and reassure them that there is nothing wrong with asking for assistance.

Depression is a real—and treatable—illness. If your friend is already seeing a doctor, offer to help with picking up medications and being on time for appointments. Sometimes the most important thing you can do for a depressed friend is to just listen sympathetically while they talk about what is bothering them, allowing them to relieve the pressure of pent-up feelings. Make sure to listen without interrupting. We all wish to fix things for those we care about and often offer quick fixes to cope with our own feelings of helplessness.

Sometimes people who are depressed just need to talk without having the conversation taken over with well-meaning advice. A common feeling among those who are depressed is that their lives don't matter and no one would even care if they were gone. Before you tell someone "I understand," you should be certain that you actually do.

Have you ever experienced clinically significant depression? If you have, it may be helpful for your friend to hear that you have experienced what they are feeling and that it can get better. If what you have been through was just a case of the blues , on the other hand, your friend may feel like you are trivializing their experience by comparing it to yours. In this case, it would be best to simply admit that you don't understand exactly what they are going through, but you care about them and want to try.

Often, the best words to say are, "I don't understand, but I really want to. Even if your friend's problems may seem minor to you, resist the urge to judge or come up with simple solutions. The biochemical imbalances associated with depression are what is driving how bad your friend feels about certain situations—not the situations themselves. Instead, let them know that you are sorry that they are feeling so badly and adopt an attitude of acceptance that this is how their depression is affecting them.

If your friend only recently started taking medications or attending counseling, it can take time for them to begin to feel better.

Just as an antibiotic for a strep throat takes a while to work, antidepressants can take some time to change chemicals in the brain sometimes upwards of eight weeks or longer. During this time, what your friend needs most is not references to fast, easy solutions, but an awareness that you will be by their side through their treatment.

Those who are coping with depression tend to feel weak or that there is something wrong with them. While depression is an illness, those who live with it may feel that it's a character flaw. In fact, it takes a great deal of strength to fight back, so they are probably much stronger than they think they are. While you are reassuring your friend that they have a real illness, you can also reassure them that there is hope, because, like any other medical illness, depression is treatable.

Through the use of medications and therapy, your friend has a very good chance of returning to feeling normal again. Telling someone you are depressed without saying it? I ask myself this everyday when I want to open up to my family. When I want to let them know how alone I feel because they don't understand me. I don't know if they know I am depressed, if they do know and have never said anything to me Some days I really think they do know but they choose not to say anything to me because they are scared they don't understand or they can't accept the reality that their daughter is depressed.

Telling anyone you are depressed is one of the biggest challenges because you don't want to be seen differently, you simply want someone to be there for you, to understand you, to accept you, so you don't feel so alone I know I feel that way all the time. I want someone to see that I am hurting but not to make a big deal out of it. I want you to see that I am trying to get better, I am making an effort, but everyday is a challenge Some days worse than others.

I just want acceptance. Just see that, yes I am depressed but that doesn't mean there is something wrong with me. I am still normal I am trying to be happy. Anonymous February 14th, pm.

There's no point in doing so. Don't try and give people "hints" about your depression; it wastes your time, and theirs. Depression is a serious illness, and there's no need to beat around the bush about it.

Would you ask, "how do I tell someone I have cancer without saying it? Consider reevaluating why you're unwilling to just tell someone in the first place. What are you hoping to accomplish by the conversation? I've been feeling lost and confused a lot recently. I haven't been feeling like me, for quite awhile. I recently got diagnosed with Depression as well as Social Anxiety.

It took me nearly a year to build the confidence to finally seek help. Now, how did I manage to tell my GP this without speaking words? I spent some time writing down everything I feel all the time and things I struggle with, not needing to speak made me finally feel a little relieved I was able to finally get help.

My suggestion, book an appointment with a GP, If you haven't been diagnosed and write down how you are feeling and why etc. Good luck. Let them know the symptoms you're experiencing. That's probably better than saying your depressed even if it's just in casual convo where you just start to say things like "you know, I really don't enjoy [playing football] like I used to anymore, it really just doesn't make me happy anymore and it doesn't feel fun.