I hope someone here can offer some advice.

Somebody very dear to me is feeling very down at the moment. I'm not qualified to know if it's 'depression' in the medical sense or not. In some ways that's unimportant.

I do the obvious stuff like regularly phoning her, inviting her out for days in the country, nice nights out, anything that make her laugh and so on. Sometimes these lift her mood for a while, but a few days later when I phone back, I get the same emptiness and sense of futility as before.

I've tried searching on the web for help, but just end up with pages trying to sell me a book.

If anyone can help, I'd really appreciate it.

Thank you,

Thomas