How to help?

[lopsided]

I'm pretty sure my brother is depressed. He is very unhappy, he self harms and doesn't wash enough. He has stopped seeing his friends, it is ruining his marriage.

How to I persuade him to go to the doctors? I don't know how to say anything as he is very prickly and we usually only have superficial conversations.

Hi Lopsided, sorry to hear your brother is suffering from depression. Seeing someone you care about go through mental health issues is horrible.

I have many family members suffer from this, my mum in particular. The thing with depression is the person going through it doesn't tend to realise they're suffering. Mainly because when you are in that frame of mind, you can't take a step back and see things the way they are.

Has there been anything recently that may of triggered his depression?

With my mum, she could see things were bad, but didn't realise the extent. I just had to spend time trying to motivate her, talk to her, and try the best I could just so she'd want to wake up and actually look forward for the day.

It's so hard to get out of depression but it is possible. Have you tried maybe a helpline or maybe seeking advise from a mental health charity that can give support for family members? Not sure whether that's any help?