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Your colleague might be suffering from depression! What can we do to help?

Anson

 




Depression is certainly one of the most common and crushing problems in the workplace. A person suffering from depression might feel constantly overwhelmed. It might also affect his/her daily sleeping patterns and diet negatively. These factors would definitely cause a drop in energy level of the person and impact his/her work performance.  


Yet this symptom can be so hard to tackle! As an outsider, we often do not have any clue as to how we can help such a person.  Therefore, we decided to do research on this matter and provide you all with tips to help fellow colleagues suffering from depression! 


Tip 1: Include them


Self-Isolation is a common phenomenon for those suffering from depression because they have low self-esteem. Some may even feel that their presence would cause others pain. Inviting them to social gatherings or including them in tasks is a good way to counteract these thoughts and make them feel that others value and respect them. In addition, some may also lack the social energy or motivation to join groups on their own, in which case you would help a lot by acting as the “bridge” to help the colleague connect with outer groups too! 


Tip 2: Help them maintain good physical health


Practices that strengthen physical health such as exercising or eating healthy food are extremely helpful for alleviating depression. A healthy and fit body can allow the depressed colleague to feel better about themselves. Let’s think about it—constant purges of sicknesses from an unfit body wouldn’t help improve a person’s mood, right? Since they may often lack the motivation or support to exercise or keep fit alone, offering to do the practice with them can help them a lot by providing them with someone to follow. 


Tip 3: Do not assume anything


Some people try to assume reasons for others’ depression. DO NOT do this! If in doubt, ask. People with depression are often misunderstood, and you would definitely not win any favour on their list of being another one of those people who “think” they understand them. 


Also, do not assume they would like you to do certain things or actions for them. Again, if in doubt, ask. Each and every person has a unique preference for support. Some may prefer to be acknowledged with words. Others might prefer being given some alone space when needed. Communication, and NOT assumptions, is a major key to helping those with depression. 


Tip 4: Be there and listen


People often fall into the hole of wanting to”fix” the depressed person. They give many suggestions or try all types of methods to do so, which obviously most often do not work. After all, if the problem can be fixed so easily, the person wouldn’t be bothered for so long! Rather, we believe the most important thing is to let the depressed person feel your presence. Often, the mere listening and show of support can help more than anything as it can make the person realise that they are not alone. Overly optimistic attempts to try fix the person, on the other hand, may very likely make the depressed person feel more misunderstood. 


Of course, if he/she reaches out to us for suggestions, we should gladly offer our own insights to the problem. But we find out that more often than not this is not what the person truly wants the most.


The above 4 tips are our insights on how to help a colleague facing depression. The journey with a depressed person is a long one; do not expect for the person to immediately recover the next day! However, we are confident that with time, the constant care and support shown to the person using the above methods can provide much energy required for him/her to finally overcome it!


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