If your friend was feeling down, what would you say to cheer them up?

Often, the best response is to hold them and to listen.

It all depends on the friend as they are all different :) something goofy,I’m sure

It sounds cruel, but, my dad would always say “well, nobody’s going to like you if you’re bawling” to me when I was young and was crying over one thing or another. It made me realize that sometimes you just have to suck it up and go on with your life. Now when he says it, it makes me laugh, because its just so wrong!

Cheer up, you could be dead.

I don’t have a throwaway line for situations like this. I’ll listen and be the best friend I can be when they are feeling down. That’s all I can guarantee.

“Cheer up, asshole!”

No. That’s exactly the wrong thing to tell someone who is down. Never tell them to cheer up. It makes them feel worse, because when you’re down, you can’t just flip a switch and feel happy again.

I would just love someone I wanted to help feel better as much as I could. Mostly that means showing them that I understand as much as I can understand. I try to be honest about recognizing when I don’t understand. I don’t pretend to be able to do things I can’t. People often see this as lack of confidence, but that’s not how I see it. I think honesty is most important, because that’s what I want from others. I want to know the real deal.

So I would listen. Draw my friend out. Let them talk and talk, as much as they need to. I would sympathize, or at least make encouraging noises. I would hold them if they wanted to be held. I would pray with them (even though I don’t pray) or do whatever it was that they thought would help them, even if I didn’t think it was useful.

Perhaps the biggest thing, though, would be being there. Showing I care. When I was depressed, a lot of people disappeared and it confirmed my idea that I was a piece of shit with no friends. I would not disappear on a friend of mine who was in need of my comfort. No way!

I’d ask them to meet up so we could just hang out together. I don’t care if they want to watch tv for a few hours or sit around and drink and cry as long as they don’t have to be alone and I can find some opportunities to get them laughing.

Be respectful of their feelings but do everything you can to get them out of the house and doing something. Activity increases their opportunity to do something satisfying or enjoyable.
Trust me, I’m a doctor!

There’s an interesting trick in doing this. First part of it is to cheer them up without bringing yourself down while trying to do this. Then, you have a choice, do you “cheer” them up temporarily, or more permanently? The shitty part is to make more of a permanent impact, sometimes it causes them a little pain. It’s like taking someone to a movie can cheer them up for a while, and maybe a little bit permanently. It takes work, and you gotta care. I’ve explored a couple schools of thought, just take what works and chuck the rest.

I don’t know, it would depend what they were down about. If it were possible, I’d invite them over the my house, make us some delicious things to munch on, sit around and relax (or watch dvd, or make them help me build my puzzle :P ), and i’d listen and discuss it with them if they feel like talking about it.

Words are cheap, but money talks.

I would tell my friend that i have an extra $500 dollars and lets you and i head out to a night of fun at a casino. casinos have a way of making you forget all your problems. it may be the atmosphere or just the idea that a winning pull on a slot machine may be next for you.