Welcome to another installment of our brutally honest health musings. Here, we are going Greek today – Κοινή or conversational Greek, saying it as it is, minus the waffle. You might know someone who seems sullen, or you might suspect they're battling depression. Sadly, the omnipresent "just shake it off" hymn isn't quite the cure for actual clinical depression. But first, let's distinguish clinical depression from just feeling under the weather. Let's give a shoutout to Dr. April Thames, our ally from the UCLA Brain Research Institute, for this enlightenment.

Feeling down is typically your usual, transient slump, typically triggered by external experiences like quarrels with family or work hiccups. Conversely, clinical depression deals with long-term symptoms such as prolonged discontent, social withdrawal, and loss of interest in activities that once sparked joy. Lo and behold, for someone to earn the 'clinical depression' badge, these symptoms must persist for a minimum of two weeks and significantly affect one’s usual functioning.[1]

Here we have some signs and symptoms of depression:[2]

• Feeling irritable over minute things
• Decreating or increasing sleeping hours
• Changes in eating habits
• Chronic fatigue
• Anxiety or restlessness
• Unexplained physical discomforts
• Lapses in attention and memory
• Constant feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or dwelling on past failures
• Slowed speech or movements
• Death or suicidal thoughts

Once you notice these symptoms in your loved ones, here are six steps to follow.

1. Communicate Your Concerns: Address your concerns of these signs in a nonjudgmental tone, advises Ole Thienhaus, MD. Start a conversation about the changes you've noticed and pause frequently to give them breaks to respond. Don’t critique, just present the facts devoid of biases. Don’t hold comparisons with others who seemingly handle their problems better, this only exacerbates feelings of shame which in turn hinders any potential treatment of depression.

2. Assisting Them to Get Treatment: Support your loved one in seeking professional help. Help them find and schedule an appointment with a mental health provider. Consider speaking their language when recommending treatment, using words they can identify with, presume ‘stressed out’ or ‘not feeling myself’ instead of ‘depressed’ [3].

3. Help in Daily Routine: Treatment is one thing, but managing everyday tasks might still need assistance. Sit in on their treatment sessions, lend a helping hand in overwhelming tasks like laundry, grocery shopping, or just take a leisurely stroll around the block with them. Establish a daily routine to help ease stress and lift their mood [3].

4. Monitor Treatment Progress: Watch for minor ways to tell the progress of their treatment. Look out for signs of improvement, whether they’re isolated or socially interactive and the quality of their sleep and diet.

5. Be Vigilant for Warning Signs of Deterioration: The absence of any signs of improvement means their depression may not be receding but getting worse. A glaring concern in the lack of progress is potential suicidal thoughts, which calls for your immediate intervention to ensure they are receiving professional help and monitoring for dangerous behaviors [4].

6. Make Plans for Designed Relapses: It’s crucial to anticipate and plan to manage flaring symptoms as depression can invariably be a chronic illness. Being aware of its fluctuating nature helps in managing personal frustrations while dealing with a loved one suffering from depression.

If your loved ones are dealing with depression, your role transcends merely noticing the signs and symptoms to actively participating in their journey towards recovery. Your support and partnership can be life-transforming.

If you or a loved one require immediate aid, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers 24/7 service, just dial or text 988 or call 911 for emergencies.