Down So Long: Helping a Friend With Depression
Ethics Center Media
Megan and Amy have been best friends since high school. Now, roommates for their second year in a row at college, they are still very close. But lately Amy has been pretty down, even depressed. She doesn’t want to socialize with their other friends. She doesn’t want to go out for food. She even struggles to get up for class.
At first, Megan was very patient with her friend. There was a time after Megan’s boyfriend dumped her, when Amy had been there for her. So Megan, in turn, spent several weekends in the dorms and brought meals back to the room to share with Amy. After a while, however, Megan insisted that Amy speak with a counselor about her troubles, but Amy became insulted and refused to go.
Megan has grown very worried about her friend, but she's also sick of Amy not doing anything for herself. Now Megan has a chance to go to a great party with a bunch of friends, but Amy seems especially unhappy. What should Megan do?
Useful Resources
Depression--from the National Institutes of Health
How to Help a Depressed Friend (And When to Stop Trying)
A Framework for Ethical Decision Making
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