Some of what is tackled here cover underlying issues; also, they can share a common point. Trying to explore them from different angles, as they may crop up in unusual ways, the following outlay of ideas comes from personal observation.
***
People suffering from depression or other diagnoses are usually "stress" sensitive.
Learning when to step out of whatever one is doing and rest, especially during times of transitions – in psychological treatment, in lifestyle, or support - is essential. Any lifestyle change can affect a person. Deaths, particularly of a loved one, or mounting health problems, can become very problematic. Any swift rift, in a person's life, can affect them tenfold.
What was helpful? The obvious is speaking to friends. Like many, we are charting unknown territory. People can keep repeating, "take one day at a time." This advice somehow does make things more bearable; the reason why maybe because one is part of a group trying to gain ground in their life struggles. Slowly, people can increase a type of resiliency if they work in a peer mentoring milieu.
Then, there is a matter of work. Many people must escape from doing too much in this area. It is a problem that keeps tugging at all of us. The solution seems to be working a shorter schedule, which includes built-in flexibility clauses. The sole barometer is the person. They are the navigator, like being a pilot navigating an ideal gateway. It is so easy to leave port too quick, without either a weather report or an appropriate crew.
***
There is no rule book, no umpire, only the person that can ultimately conclude what may be helpful, and when. Psychological support may be a terrific guide, but it is the person, in the situation, controlling the rudder. The idea is to stay in engagement. All sorts of scenarios for activity look promising if the person is up to it. There comes a time when they will be able to gauge what is more than one can do. It is like going into a situation with an activity adjuster lever. Usually, it is better to overshoot just a bit before deciding on a settling marker. Developing resiliency is a constant process.
They are having learned over the years that it is essential to both wades through the clinical application and try to apply instinctual awareness of one's situation. The ultimate authority on the ins and outs of personal trials is the person dealing with them. In striving to bottle one's own experience, it seems like capturing a sneeze. One hopes that they get more than a whiff.
How do people guide each other out of the problematic emotional realm? Peer mentoring is a crucial asset, as discussed in the next section. Friends are what many people count on in times of trouble.
Listen
Mirror what the client is telling you; let the person impart what they are experiencing at the moment.
Ask questions, try to be constructive in offering suggestions that seem pertinent to their situation.
Learn the standard medications and what the person is taking; if a person is going on/off new medicines, this may be the culprit to a mood shift and suicidal idealization.
Encourage the client to plan of action – what they'll do when the call ends, if, indeed, you are speaking with someone on the telephone. This may be calling a friend or family member or touching base with their medical team.
Many times, there is such a complexity of emotions not easy to discern, waving to gain attention. It hits a person's front and center. The only employable tactic I could think of was to wait out whatever emotion was running me until whatever was happening could find a way to subside. There were no guideposts; conversations played a crucial part in resolving these negative experiences.
For example, I recall calling a crisis response counselor in an emergency, relaying to her that I was frightened to eat any food. (I had lost a lot of weight to the point where I wasn't sure if it would return.) The "crisis" person asked me to go to the refrigerator and take out some food. She then told me to eat something, right while we were on the phone together. In this situation, it was important to me to have someone assist me in finding a haven, even if it is for a short while until I could touch base with my friends and psychological team when I returned a Day Program. The person on the other end of that line established a "heart" connection and let me speak my reality.