Your child's recent depression diagnosis may have you worried about their overall well-being. Whether they have struggled with their symptoms for years or they have recently developed the condition, your role as a parent is to help them learn to manage their depression. Yet, there is also a fine line between helping and coddling, and it is easy to cross it when your child lives at home. Now that they have an explanation for their symptoms, your family can now move forward by setting up a plan to help them live their best life.

Review Your Living Agreement

Families that choose to live together after their child enters adulthood often have living agreements that may be written into a formal document or simply spoken. For instance, your child may be required to pay rent or manage certain tasks around the home. If your child's depression is severe enough that they have had to cut back on working hours, then you may need to alter their financial responsibilities to the family for the time being. Alternatively, your child may need to be reminded of their responsibility to keep common areas of the house clean. Set clear boundaries if they have been overlooked recently, but offer to help if your child has trouble meeting them all. Once their depression treatment begins to help them feel better, you can review the agreement and reinstate any rules that were temporarily taken off.

Encourage Them to Explore Treatment Options

There is not any one-size-fits-all type of treatment for depression. While some people do well with medication, others need therapeutic services such as counseling to help them feel better. Talk to your child about the depression treatment services that are available, and insist that they at least try to receive professional care. 

Invite Them to Join You For Healthy Activities

The lack of motivation that accompanies depression may cause your child to withdraw from their favorite activities. However, getting outside each day and spending time with others helps to ease the symptoms of depression. Make it a point to invite your child along for things such as a walk through the neighborhood after dinner. You could also ask them to accompany you to an activity such as going to see a movie, which requires very little energy but gets them out of the house. As you ask, remember not to apply pressure. Just let your child know that you would like them to come along, and keep asking periodically so that they know they are loved and included in the family activities.

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