This is late but I see this thread far too often with the same posts. I suffered with depression, awful anxiety and anorexia. The number one thing is to definitely NOT coddle, I really hate when anyone goes full "poor you". The very, very last thing we need is victimization. If you allow us to play the victim then it only gets 100x fucking worse. You have to be really careful here without stepping on any toes. Thread carefully, you need carefully find the moderation between coddling the person and telling them to get off their ass and do something. Both of those extremes make everything worse. I only met one person who could find that balance and she was my best friend in high school.

I can't relate to other depressed people who hate being told "what they should do". Sure, there are wrong ways to go about it but I really like getting advice on how to self improve. Approach and delivery is key.

Also never let them take medications. Meds for mental illness are a giant fucking mess and lead to some shitty side effects. My sister used to take them and is 110% batshit insane.

Anyways, the most important thing is not letting anyone fall into the playing the victim card. It is incredibly difficult to get any depressed person out of that pit. For me, it took a long time because I let myself believe I was a victim but I cringe looking back at how weak I was mentally.