From my own experience: Listen and keep in mind that all the emotions of a depressed person are their reality. Emotions are far more powerful than most people e

From my own experience: Listen and keep in mind that all the emotions of a depressed person are their reality. Emotions are far more powerful than most people expect and can change the view on everything. What helped me most was meditation... Instead of being scared and running away from what was going on it helped me focusing on and studying my own depression. The process was to not identify myself too much, learning that there's a me and bunch load of emotions i couldn't handle. Don't push to hard, a depression takes its time. Listen, talk, take them on a walk. but don't expect them to be fine just after a few weeks. Find a good psychologist who can help the person to understand the mechanics of a depression, it's source and how it develops, and how it shows off. Again studying and understanding yourself was to me the most helpful thing. Sports helped in the very end to get back on track and preventing some fallbacks.