One fire drives out another

You friend is depressed. Everything seems dark for him/her. This state is familiar to everybody. Some people are able to help themselves, others need someone's help to cheer up. There also people who can feel better only after consulting a specialist. You are not a specialist and are not likely to be helpful to your friend, if he/she doesn't believe that mere friend's support and sympathy can help to reduce this state. But if your friend is rally predisposed to your help and is ready to rely on you, your help maybe even more effective than a visit to a doctor.

Our life is very complex and there are no readymade patterns and recipes for hard situations. That is why it is often difficult to give the right advice. Depressed people react to everything excessively and if you can't give a sensible piece of advice, you are likely to be discredited.

But is giving a piece of advice the only way to reassure a depressed person? No, there is at least one way, when you can avoid giving recipes and concrete recommendations. You can resort to lie for a good cause. In this case all is fare. Lie here is absolutely justified. What do I mean here?

If you feel that your friend or acquaintance is in bad mood, you can avoid asking him/her about his/her problems. These questions may worsen the situation. You can take the lead over your friend and organize your talk according to your wish. Invent a terrible story which has happened allegedly with you. Make your story as black as you can. Paint the devil blacker than he is. Tell your friend how miserable and oppressed you are, how bad you feel, how difficult it is for you to overcome your imaginary problems. Complain of your life, say that you don't imagine your future, that your life is meaningless and so on. This will work perfectly. Your friend will no longer imagine him/herself to be a victim of circumstances but will divert his/her attention away from his/her problems and will try to reassure you. He/she will be so sympathetic with you, that will argue that life is not so dull and severe as it seems to be. He/she will persuade you in it and begin to believe these words him/herself. It is a very effective trick. The main thing here is to be a perfect actor and not to give yourself away. Your unnatural conduct may betray you and spoil this perfect plan. That is why think your talk over beforehand. Think over all your words and actions and imagine all possible types of reaction and outcome of the situation.

The truth is that one fire drives out another. Imitate depression and your friend will turn from a victim into your saviour.