How to Help a Significant Other Cope With Depression

Depression has the ability to destroy even the best of relationships. As symptoms of depression take hold of your partner, it will invade every aspect of your relationship. Common symptoms such as anger, despair, sadness and hopelessness can make him feel numb to everyone around him. You may feel isolated as your partner withholds his love and affection. He may withdraw and shut you out of his life. Your partner may suppress his emotions because he is afraid to be seen as weak or vulnerable. Depression is a vicious battle that is harder to fight alone. Depression affects a person mentally, physically, and emotionally. It slowly drains the relationship. Here are some helpful tips to help you cope with a depressed significant other.

Things You'll Need

• Journal
• Art pad

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Instructions

• 1

  Seek help. Stage an intervention with friends, family, co-workers and anyone else who is close to her. Each person should tell her why it is vital she get help. Explain to her that depression is an illness that needs to be treated just like any other medical disorder. Show her booklets and pamphlets on depression. As she learns more about depression, she should begin to understand that this condition is treatable. Tell her that there are many types of effective treatments such as medication, therapy and group counseling.

• 2

  Make an appointment with a psychiatrist. Your partner may be prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) to alleviate the symptoms of depression. SSRIs are also effective in treating other conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, panic attacks and anxiety. These conditions often accompany depression. In addition, tricyclic antidepressants can also be used but have more severe side effects such as increased heart rate, hypotension upon standing, and difficulty in urinating. Patients taking tricyclic antidepressants often complain of drowsiness and weight gain. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are used as a last resort. This anti-depressant drug has been linked to severe and sudden increase of blood pressure.

• 3

  Ask for assistance from friends and neighbors. Depression may make him feel overwhelmed and he may find that completing daily tasks is difficult. Ask his friends or neighbors if they can help with chores such as washing the dishes, taking out the garbage or doing the laundry. He may need help with personal hygiene.

• 4

  Discuss his feelings. It is a myth that talking about depression only makes the person feel worse. Talking about her symptoms can make her feel as if they are manageable. Discussing her feelings will help her feel that they are less of a burden to her.
  Be aware that she may be resistant to talking. Many people will put up a wall when the conversation turns to how they feel. Don't force the issue. Make sure that she knows that you are available if she needs to talk.

• 5

  Encourage him to write in a journal. Sometimes the things that we can not communicate in words can be said through writing. It will help your partner gain insight into his feelings and emotions. If he doesn't like to write, encourage him to draw how he feels. It is important that he has an expressive outlet so that he can vent his feelings. He will feel worse if he bottles up his feelings.

• 6

  Make a list of small goals each day. Start with simple tasks such as taking a short trip to the bookstore, a 10-minute walk or calling a friend. These small goals will feel like achievements. Try to make her feel that she can get through her depression one moment at a time.

• 7

  Join group activities. As his depression symptoms ease, try doing things that he previously enjoyed. Take him to see a play, a movie at the local theatre or a concert.

• 8

  Make a decision. Sometimes, depression can tear a relationship if help is not sought. If she refuses to get help, you need to decide if the relationship is worth saving. Never stay with someone out of pity because they are depressed. It is not healthy for you to remain in a relationship out of a sense of guilt. Eventually, you will begin to resent her and that would only make the situation worse.