How can I help someone who is depressed? - Depression - TouchPoints

Proverbs 25:20Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in a wound.

Romans 12:15Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.

2 Corinthians 1:4He [Jesus] comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

The best way to help someone who is depressed is to model the gentle, caring love of Jesus. People dealing with depression need comfort and understanding, not advice, lectures, or clichés. You can help someone who is depressed by offering your quiet presence, your love, and your encouragement. Telling them that you “know what that’s like,” telling them to “snap out of it,” or minimizing their pain by false cheeriness will usually just make them feel worse.

Job 2:13They [Job’s friends] sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.

Matthew 26:36-38Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

When Jesus himself faced grief, anguish, and distress before his crucifixion, he first and foremost sought his Father in prayer, but he also sought the company of his closest friends. Peter, James, and John had no advice that could help Jesus—they didn’t even understand what was happening—but their presence gave Jesus comfort. In the same way, we can be a blessing to those who are suffering depression simply by being present, a visible reminder that they are not alone.