The best gift you can give to someone who is depressed is your love and support. I know this from my own experience in dealing with serious depression. Nobody caused the problem and certainly couldn’t fix it – not with all the love and kindness in the world, but knowing that you are still cared about and loved even though you feel like an alien version of yourself and wonder how anybody could possibly bear to even be around you, truly is a gift.
Now, I’m supposing you know this person well because you know of their plight and are searching for a gift. In this case, you can get them something that may directly help them, even if it doesn’t seem like a “present” in the sense that we usually mean.
It is hard to know what to recommend without knowing more specifics – but more and more people are realizing that the seasons affect their mood and are a cause or contributing factor to their depression. In this instance a SAD light therapy device may be really useful. This is the type of gift you want to discuss with your recipient though, before buying. They should speak to their doctor first and, if the doctor recommends light therapy, I’ve found a really helpful tool – the Bright Light Hat Visor
This form of light therapy offers two different lux settings (8,000 and 12,000) is very lightweight and convenient because you wear it. Light therapy is most effective for many people when worn first thing after waking – which for someone who is depressed can be a difficult in and of itself – so sitting in front of a traditional light therapy box for 30 minutes might not be very helpful if you are fighting off sleep. This rechargeable (no batteries needed) light visor gives you the lux that you need, at the appropriate distance (since you are wearing it) and allows you to walk around, brush your teeth, eat breakfast or whatever you would like to do while letting you benefit from the powerful light. It also has an automatic timer, additional attachments, in case you have your own hat you would prefer to attach the light to, and a very handy travel case.
Another benefit of the light therapy is that this is an item that travelers can use to help them adjust to a new time-zone and alleviate jet-lag.
I highly recommend talking to your depressed friend and seeing if they might benefit from a gift like this!
I applaud you for wanting to help and give them something, just remember, something that seems fun to you or even used to be fun for them, may not be something that they would enjoy while battling depression so be very sensitive of this and don’t be offended if it is difficult to figure out something that they would want as a “fun” gift. Again, I can’t stress enough, making sure that you are just letting them know how much you love and care for them is the biggest and best gift you can give them.
Happy gifting!
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