Hello Samanthagreene: Thanks for caring about this boy. It would be easier to just avoid him. My thinking with regard to this is, what you could do depends allot on your relationship with him. I assume you must have one since you're aware he's struggling. Are you friends... close friends or just casual friends? Have you known him a long time or is he a newer acquaintance?

My feeling is, if you haven't known him that long & / or your relationship with him is casual, your trying to talk with him about depression may come off badly. It may be interpreted as you butting in, being nosy, or perhaps even stirring up trouble. He might fear that the next thing that will happen is that whatever he says will end up on the internet. If I were in his shoes (& many years ago I sort-of was) I'd probably say something like: "Hey, butt out. You don't know anything about me. Leave me alone..."

On the other hand, if this is someone you've known for a while, & been friends with, then sure I think you could broach the subject with him. Just be gentle & don't push. If he rejects your overture outright, I think you just have to say to yourself: "Well, I tried." You cannot take responsibility for him or his problems. All you can do is create the opportunity for him to talk about what's going on. Beyond that, it's up to him. You may want to try to approach this discussion in a public place if you think there may be potential for him to be hostile. And certainly, however your effort works out, you can certainly continue to be quietly supportive to whatever extent is possible.

So essentially what I'm suggesting here is that, from my perspective, before any person has the right to try to enter another person's private space, so to speak, that person has to have earned that right as a result of past friendship. To be allowed into another person's personal space is a great privilege. We must all earn the right to that privilege. No matter how good your intentions may be, if you haven't already earned the right to enter this young man's personal space, then my perspective would be that you should not try & simply be quietly supportive.