Mytrice
Active Member
My friend has just been diagnosed with depression and is having a really terrible time at the moment. We have been friends for five years now and I care about them a lot but I just don't know how to comfort them when they panic or get anxious. We have discussed in the past what we should do when either of us has a panic attack but I really struggle with being reassuring and saying the right thing to calm them down. Instead I sit there in silence, panicking myself, when I know they need me to help them. It's incredibly frustrating but I just don't know what to do. I have trouble recognising when they aren't feeling too good until it's quite obvious.This makes me feel like a bad friend. I just want to help them feel better but I can't. They don't know that I suspect I have Aspergers, which would at least show them why I have problems with this and I don't think that now would necessarily the best time to tell them because I just want them to focus on them self. I feel selfish for bringing this up and I honestly don't want to make this all about me when my friend needs as much help as they can get at a time like this. I just want to help them. If anyone has any advice on how to comfort someone and sound sincere and how to help a friend with a mental illness while having Aspergers that would be incredibly helpful.
