it is no ones fault that he is getting depressed. and whether is there a cause for him to have depression, it will only be the trigger factor and not the main cause. depression is a mood disorder and till now no specific study can tell where is the main pathology.

normally, they will feel loneliness, helpless, hopeless, loss of appetite, cant focus, cant concentrate. lost of interest. anti-social, insomnia, weight loss, dead wish, suicidial attempt, suicidial ideation, poor memory, being very negative thinking.

to help him, u got to know wat is depression. then, encourage him. do not force him. everything have to start slowly, be patience... talk to him, let him feel comfortable with u, encourage him to talk wat he feels, then slowly bring him out to the society. he might have public fear initially, but make sure u'll be there... let him know it is not his fault that he having depression and he shd be tough to look at his prob n face it. friends and familys member got to help him to face his prob... let him face the truth that he needs help. medication can booster his mood... so make sure he sees psychiatric... go for group therapy. do not let him suffer alone o...

there are groups around malaysia who willing to help him eg befrienders.org.my

all the best to your friend

well, if u r talking abt depress as a feeling.. yes it is his fault. but if u talking abt a mental disorder as in depressive disorder, it is not his fault. to be called depression, u got to fit in a certain criteria and a period of continuous 2 weeks feeling persistent low mood, sad and etc. i dun think it is easy to malinger it

yes, i agreed that there must be a 'something' that trigger them to become depress.. but then, it is a trigger factor n not the cause. cuz the cause is in them, n not the issue. some ppl are just more easily get depression compared to others. and depression can runs in family

and to help them, is to change their thinking and feeling like wat u said... that's why they need help, n concern.

i seen people in major depressive disorder. i have seen people with the whole hands of suicidal cut wound... i seen people died because they refuse to tell anyone their problem.