When someone is involved in a car accident, it might range from a minor accident to a horrific crash. Even seemingly minor car accidents may lead to whiplash and tissue damage.
More serious crashes can lead to life-changing damage or limitations like brain injuries.
After an accident, your friend may need to leave their job or switch positions because they are unable to perform their duties. They may not be able to hang out with the circle of friends they used to have, or see them much less often. Their lives may become a neverending stream of medical appointments, hospital visits, psychiatric examinations, and sitting on the couch, hoping to feel better.
This takes a while for those who aren’t significantly injured to get out of the post-accident depression slump. Doctors will very often prescribe antidepressants for this.
You, as a friend, may feel frustrated. You want to get your friend back. However, it is important to try to understand that your friend is hurting, either physically or mentally, or both, and you need to work with them until they are back on an even keel.
Here are some things that you can do to help:
Offer specific help
Often, we say things like ‘let me know if you need help,’ and while this may be appreciated, it can be vague. Instead, offer to do specific things such as walk the dog, do a load of laundry, pick the kids up from school, collect medication or help them to search for personal injury lawyers.
Even just making a meal and bringing it to put in the freezer is welcome. Many people are reluctant or embarrassed to ask for what they need, but if you make an offer, they will probably going to take up on it.
Offer to spend time at their place
This can help more than you can imagine. Your friend may be tired and in pain, and simply going out of the door can seem like a mountain too high to climb at times. It can be hard enough for them to shower and get dressed, let alone do anything else, and this can lead to them feeling lonely and isolated.
Offering to spend time at your friend’s place, on their terms, where they are not under any pressure, can really help.
Keep inviting them out with you
People like to be included. Don’t take it as a given that they don’t want to be part of the group, or that they don’t want to come out or take part in that activity. Keep inviting them to come. There’s always a possibility that your friend could feel good one day and that they’ll say, “Sure!”. However, if you keep inviting them, they’ll have a great feeling knowing that their friends still think about them and want them there. It’s good to know that you’re not forgotten, even though you’re not as active as you used to be.
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