Hey, welcome to the Therapy Thoughts podcast. This is Tiffany Rowe. I'm a licensed clinical mental health

counselor and psychology teacher. I own mindful counseling in ORM, Utah, and I'm on a mission to

break down mental health stigma. Therapy Thoughts is a podcast all about helping you love yourself

and make peace with your mind, body, and food. I'll share some education, tips, interviews, and tools from my

clinical experience so you can improve your mental health. Stay tuned as we change the mental

health game and talk all about therapy. Therapy Thoughts, Fam, what's up.

What's up?

This is Tiffany Rowe.

We are getting back on this podcast grind.

Today, we are talking about a question I have gotten for a really long time. And I'm

excited to share with you not only my perception, but I interviewed several of my favorite

therapists and they're going to share their tips too through me. Today we're talking about how

to support someone you love with depression. How do we support folks who are

suffering and how do we show up in a best way that's loving, empathic, compassionate, but also

make sure that we're taking care of ourselves. So today, it's all about supporting a loved one

with depression. Here's a couple things. Depression is not a choice. Like any mental illness,

there are hereditary components of depression. That means there's also environmental components,

and it can be really, really heavy. Depression, if I had to pick one word, I'd say heavy. I'd also

say dark, hopeless, distressing. It can impair functioning.

And of course, it can lead to suicidal thoughts and this deep sense of hopelessness and that it'll never leave.

So these types of feelings, people don't opt into them. They are not choices. This is a mental illness. Like anything else I talk

about, mental illness isn't as simple as something that you choose in the morning. It impacts the

...