To talk to depressed people must be done softly.
Do not tell them that there is no reason to feel depressed.
They will not listen.
Actually, they cannot listen.
Their mind is taken by their depression.
Try to ask whether the shining sun makes them feel better.
The approach should always be a positive one.
Do not talk about depression.
You better talk about your cat rather than about their depression.
If you know that they may be interested in pets, this is something that penetrates even a depressed mind.
If a person is in a deep depression, she or he will not answer any questions.
They may not move and not say anything.
You can show them a flower.
Talk about its color or fragrance.
Make them smell the fragrance.
This addresses their senses.
You can show them birds in the trees, if the trees are not too high.
They might watch, together with you, the birds flying in the sky.
Do not talk to their intellect.
It is as they didn't have any.
Sometimes it is frustrating when you see how they are staring at something that doesn't exist.
They probably do not see anything either.
It is as if they were looking into the void.
What you can talk to, is their heart and their feelings.
Their emotions if these are not involving their depression.
If you talk with your heart, they will feel it as long as they are not in the maniac phase of a bipolar depression.
If they are, they might be crystal clear in what they say.
But this clearness is rude.
It may even be violent.
And it certainly is a clearness beyond the reality.
Bipolar depression is a field where specialists are needed.
They know how to speak to the sick person.
They know how to avoid physical attacks from the sick.
If the sick person is in a deep depression but not maniac, they will listen to you as long as you talk softly.
You may talk about nature, about Spring or whatever season there is outside, with all its facets and beauty..
You probably won't get any answer.
It is not necessary to ask questions.
What counts, in my experience, is that the sick person feels love, appreciation and that, whenever they do something, whatever it is, you thank them.
Each action they do, are a sign of life.
Thank them and hug them.
Every sign of life is also a sign of hope.