Hi! I'm new here!

[RickAstley]

Hi there!

I'm not really too sure where to start, but I guess myself is the best place. I am 15, and go to school in WA. I myself am not suffering from any form of mental illness, however one of my closest friends was recently diagnosed with depression and I am not really sure what to do to help him. What is the best way in which to support him through this tough stage in his life? 

I am also am doing a project on mental health, and a major part of this is my central question of 'What is the importance of relationships, whether friends, family or SO, in a young adults' life?'

Any help on either of those two questions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[Chris_B]

Hi Rick, welcome to the forums. Nice choice of alias - some of us are old enough to remember when his first single came out!

The best place for you to start in terms of supporting your friend would be this section of our website.

As this is a space for providing peer support around depression and anxiety, we can't really help out with projects or assignments, but having a look through our website should provide you with plenty of information to answer your questions.

[RickAstley]

Thanks Chris!

I'll get on to it 😄

[MisterM]

A Rick Roll on BB forum, I would never have imagined.

[LawrieM]

May we all be greatful that the clip was not on auto-play. Talk about damn it, ear worm attack

[Goanna]

I was diagnosed with depression when i was 17.  im now 43.  if i couldve had my time again i wouldve wanted all my friends to try to understand depression and the impact it has on you.  depression was very taboo in my day.  it would probably help your friend if you could talk a bit openly about if he's having a good day, an average day or a depressed day.  *The importance of family in a young person's life is that they are usually their support system and friends can usually pick up when something is going wrong in a young person's life.  hope this all helps 🙂