Sharing – How to Talk to Friends About Your Depression

There is a lot of good advice in the article below. This one tidbit stood out to me as something I’d not really thought about before though:

“Choose a casual environment for sharing the details like while taking a walk, shooting hoops, or having a cup of coffee. Not only will the activity improve your mood, but doing something together that you enjoy provides a good distraction in case one or both of you need to gather your thoughts.”

I think, for many of us, we’ve always assumed that when you want to have a difficult conversation, and disclosing your depression can be a difficult conversation, you wanted to set aside a time to have it without any distractions.

What if the distractions would help instead?

I can imagine a situation where either one of you might just need a minute to gather your thoughts, consider your response carefully, etc. Would it be more comfortable if there was something else going on during that minute? A game on TV, some food to eat, coffee to sip on, a simple distraction of other people passing you on a walk?

It’s definitely something to consider.

As are all of the other bits of advice at the link. It is important to be able to talk about mental health, and it’s just as important to think about who we are talking to, and what we are talking about.

Like I said, this can be a difficult conversation. Spend some time thinking about it, and planning for it. It will help.

https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-talk-to-friends-about-your-depression-5089226