My daughter is long gone

Im sure we have all been in situations where a traumatic event has left us feeling helpless or feeling that our world is about to fall apart. Its not easy to try to shake this off and pull yourself together. Some may take a few days or weeks to recover, while others may take months or even years.
 I can't say i've lived a whole lot because im only 21 right, but i can say that having traveled to like 15 + different countries and there hasnt been one person who i've met who has not  felt some sort of vulnerability  at some point in their lives. Difficult situations that occurs in our lives is what makes us i guess you can say....human.
Having a father who is a physician i have come across many of his patients who confuse depression with being fatigued, sick, or lack of motivation. I've heard many of their stories. There were some that  if they had ask me for advice i would tell them exactly what they should do, and then there were some  that i wouldn't know what to say and then realizing how lucky i was. I remember this one lady who had just suffered a loss of a daughter. This little girl was about 7 years old and had past away due to cancer. I remember that when i first starting talking to the lady, she was talking about her daughter as if she was still alive. She was talking about how her daughter loved to dance and was obsess with Hanna Montana and how they drove to Houston to see one of her concerts. It wasn't until towards the end of the conversation events didn't seem to coordinate and she confessed that her daughter had died. A couple of minutes had past and i began talking to her husband and he started telling me that his wife is extremely depressed but didn't want to admit it. He was the one who actually came to see my dad and was hoping that if he took her with him, my dad could convince her to take some type of antidepressants. Apparently for the past 6 months she hadn't really been doing much and he himself had even walked in on her trying to take her life. There was more details into the story, but it might be to personal to talk about it right now.

 Depression is a common disorder.  If you met someone who was suffering from depression, how would approach this situation and what advice would you give them?

There are many different ways to treat it. For example there are people who go on antidepressants. I've heard of others who started exercising or taking some sort of mediation classes and that helped them. In my opinion, I think that the best approach is to talk to them. Sometimes what we need is a strong support system and someone to listen to us. Keeping our problems bottled up doesn't help anyone. Before directly seeking medication, its best to find other alternatives. Although I do have to admit that medications do work pretty fast, we have to remember that with any medication there also are side affects that come along with it. What if the side affects become more last-longing than the depression itself? Something to think about right!?

Below is a video of case study of a patient dealing with depression. The source of the depression varies for different people. My advice is to start doing something you love or to do something you've always wanted to do but never got the chance to do. Something that felt was similar in most depressive patients was that i don't think they felt they we're loved or felt that they had any purpose on this earth. That they couldnt survive if they didnt have that one thing they loved. ( most of the time that one thing they loved was taken away from them which is what lead to the depression in the first place).
If you know some who is depressed make sure they find some kind of help. You might just save a life!