Living with a partner with depression (How)
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The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
Living with a partner with depression – A guide to understanding the feeling of someone living with a partner with depression.
In this guide, we will discuss how’s the life of a person living with depression and what it can do to help its partner.
Living with someone with depression
Being in a relationship does not mean that things will always go well, sometimes some situations surround both or one of the people in the relationship and many cases they manage to get out of it and move on.
But there are times when it is not so easy to overcome a situation that affects a couple, especially when one of the two suffers from depression and when they are living together.
For the person who has depression, it is not easy to live daily. It gets up sad and hopeless, thinking that things can’t get worse.
It always sees everything negative, reaching the point of questioning its existence.
It is not easy for a person to have depression, but it is not easy for someone who is living with a partner with depression.
For the person who is living with a partner with depression, the days can be hard.
Some difficult days and days are worse since you don’t know what to do.
When the person has little or no knowledge about depression, they may think that their partner has no interest in him or her.
When a person is living with a partner with depression it suffers because it would like to help its partner, but in many cases, it does not know what to do.
It feels that its attempts are not enough and it is even more difficult when his partner is immersed in a depression so severe that it arrives until it refuses his help.
It cannot force its partner to seek help but it also does not feel that it should remain with its arms crossed without doing anything.
The person who is living with a partner with depression feels sad. It has in your mind the constant concern about its partner.
It wants to contribute to his improvement and when he sees that it is getting worse, it is also getting worse.
This sadness can become contagious, becoming something harmful to the relationship.
Sometimes the person who is living with a partner with depression wants to run away because they don’t know what to do.
It believes that if he leaves the relationship, it will be able to escape from that sad environment, but at the same time it may feel guilty since abandoning its partner is the last thing he wants to do.
It knows that running away is not the solution, but he doesn’t find one either.
When a person has depression, it not only affects the person who has it, but also those around them.
It is worrying when a family member, friend or partner suffers from depression, and in this case, the couple suffers a lot when they are with someone who has depression.
What is depression?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is a frequent mental disorder, characterized by the presence of sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or lack of self-esteem, sleep or appetite disorders, feeling of tiredness and lack of concentration.
WHO explains that depression can become chronic or recurrent and significantly impede performance at work or school, and the ability to cope with daily life.
In its most serious form, the person begins to generate suicidal thoughts and commit the act.
Symptoms of depression
Among the symptoms of depression are:
- Feeling sad that lasts most of the day
- Loss of interest in performing activities that the person once found pleasant
- Exaggerated tiredness
- Feelings of guilt or disability
- Irritability
- Pessimism about the future
- Ideas and acts of suicide
- Loss of confidence in oneself and others
- A decrease in concentration and memory
- Sleep disorders
- Decreased appetite
- Decreased libido
Causes of depression
Depression is a multifactorial disease, that is, it is due to various causes. Among the causes are the following:
Genetic factors
When talking about genetic factors it is understood that the causes of depression are present from the moment a person is born.
Some genes or physical factors may increase a person’s risk of depression.
Genetic causes influence a person to be more vulnerable or not to develop depression.
Environment factors
When talking about environmental factors is understood by those causes of depression that act in the mind, body and everything that surrounds the person.
The influences to which a person is exposed plays a role when he develops depression.
In the environmental factors can also be highlighted when a person lives a traumatic situation from which it develops depression.
The death of a loved one or having gone through a divorce are some situations that can make a person more prone to depression.
Experiences that it has lived in the past and that it has not yet been able to overcome are also other ways in which a person can develop depression.
Depression Treatment
At the moment when a person is diagnosed with depression, there are several treatments that the person can carry out for their speedy recovery.
This is the treatment with drugs, where the most common is the treatment with antidepressants.
The antidepressants used are SSRIs and SNRIs.
There is also the psychological treatment. This type of treatment involves various types of psychological therapy.
It has been proven to work well and works even better when combined with drug therapy.
Among the most used therapies is cognitive behavioural therapy.
For a person with depression to receive this kind of treatment, it must be from a mental health professional.
A person by himself cannot take drugs without a prescription and proof that the diagnosis he has received is depression.
Taking this type of medication without clinical supervision can cause problems for the person suffering from depression.
How can a person help their partner who has depression?
A person who is living with a partner with depression wants its partner to stop feeling sad and discouraged and will do everything possible to help.
Some actions that a person can take to help its partner to get out of depression are the following:
Seek information about depression
The first thing a person who is living with a partner with depression should do is look for all the information concerning the subject.
It is important that the person can know what depression is and the symptoms it shows.
The more you know about depression, the better you can help your partner.
Show support to your partner
The person suffering from depression may feel lonely many times.
Your partner should make you understand in the best possible way that you are not alone.
Giving words of encouragement and encouragement are ways of showing support to the couple suffering from depression.
Do not exaggerate in the way you try to show positivism to the person with depression, but it is important to speak positively and empathize.
It is not easy for a depressed person to see the good side of things.
Convince the couple to go to therapy
Some of the person’s attempts to help their partner may not work and the best thing they can do is go to therapy.
The person who is living with a partner with depression should make you understand that therapy can give you good results and help you get out of the abyss where you are.
In therapy, the depressive person will be able to understand the reasons why he became depressed and how to deal with them.
Patience
Patience is essential in every process.
The person who is living with a partner with depression can often despair, but he must understand that depression is a disease that does not heal overnight.
Depression takes time and if the person decides to seek professional help, the results can be seen more quickly.
FAQs about living with a partner with depression
Is it right to want to leave my partner if I suffer from depression?
If a person decides to leave his partner who has depression, it will have its reasons why it feels it can no longer remain in the relationship.
Your reasons should not be a reason to judge you, but the person who is living with a partner with depression must understand that your partner often needs your help to overcome the relationship.
How do I know if I am living with a partner with depression?
Some of the most common symptoms of depression are feelings of sadness and hopelessness most of the day, irritability, feelings of guilt, thoughts that may be accompanied by suicidal acts and loss of interest in performing activities that once caused pleasure to the person.
What can I do if my partner does not want to go to therapy?
The person when it goes to therapy does so by its own decision, not by obligation.
You cannot force anyone to go to therapy, but what the person can do is talk about the benefits of therapy to convince your partner to go.
Is it my fault that my partner has depression?
No, it is not your fault that your partner has depression.
The person who is living with a partner with depression may in many cases feel that it is their fault, but in reality, it is not.
Is it right to leave the relationship when I have done my best to help my partner in his struggle with depression?
If the person has done everything possible to help their partner and is not feeling well with everything that is going on, the best thing they can do is leave the relationship.
It can be difficult since you would be leaving your partner at a difficult time but the person cannot compromise your mental health if your partner does not decide to seek help against depression.
Conclusion
Someone who is living with a partner with depression can expect something difficult to expect each day.
Both in the relationship suffer because, although the person who has depression suffers the effects of mental illness, their partner is also filled with sadness and helplessness to see that what he does in many cases is little to help.
The person who is living with a partner with depression should try not to feel bad about the situation they are going through, it is part of the battles through which relationships go through.
The best they can do is seek professional help. Depression, like any mental illness, needs to be treated.
Recommended links
- Living with Depression: How to cope with your partner is depressed
- Living with the Black Dog: How to Cope When Your Partner Is Depressed
How You Can Survive When They’re Depressed: Living and Coping with Depression Fallout
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