My little sister has bouts of depression.
She has recently been mentioning she feels completely numb, and that she wants to go back to a horrible friend she used to have because at least she felt something with her.
I’ve suggested antidepressants, which she shut down because she doesn’t want to be on meds for the rest of her life.
I’m really worried about her, and I don’t want to push her to do something she doesn’t want to do, but on the other hand, I hate to see her suffer.
I know this isn’t the family forum, but I was wondering if anyone here knows what I could say to her or how I could offer my support.
I have depression myself, but the only thing that helps me is having someone encouraging to talk to.
When my daughter was severely depressed, I put her in the best intensive outpatient therapy program in town. She didn’t take antidepressants but she improved tremendously.
I read a statistic once that said most depressions resolve themselves within 6 weeks. Now that may not hold true for those of us with sza but I think if your sister is otherwise healthy there is a good chance she will work through it given enough time and with spring coming an the sun is a natural antidepressant. The best thing you can do in the interim is encourage her to participate in self care and get plenty of rest, which is needed in times of depression. And of course be watchful for signs of worsening depression and be there for her to talk when she needs. If it has already gone past 6 weeks you might want to explain to your sister that she needs medicine for a short period just to pull her out of her slump and that’s it’s not a lifetime thing.