May we have advice to help people who are suffering from depression?

This is from the Lords of Light.

Having depression is as if all your power is depleted. You could say it is like having no petrol in your car or the battery is flat. You feel lifeless with no energy to do even the simplest tasks. Because you feel helpless your mind takes over with negative thought patterns.

To tell someone to buck themselves up is useless and makes them feel worse. Often, bouts of depression can have been going on for a very long time.

One positive thing is to recognise the signs you are going into a downward spiral and quickly take steps to try and lift yourself out of it. Make changes in your life. Move the furniture around if it’s possible. Change what you eat and drink. Go a different route to work or to the shops. Change what you read.

This is all to change your daily habit patterns in order to break the ties that bind you to depression (and possibly anxiety too).

If certain negative thought patterns continually plague you then visualize making them a certain colour and shape and put them in a box, attach them to a helium balloon and watch them float away!