Does your partner suffer from Depression?

 

Mental Health issues will strike approximately 1 in 4 people in Britain every year according to the mental health foundation. Depression and anxiety being the most common ailments.

There is plenty of help available for those suffering with depression or anxiety ranging from medication through to talking therapies such as hypnotherapy or psychology.

However, there isn’t that much help for those that live with people who suffer with mental health problems.

In this blog we will focus on depression, it can tear families apart, cause children to suffer low self-esteem, it can even cause other family members to become depressed too and in the worst cases result in suicide. So let’s not take this too lightly….

So how can you tell if someone does suffer from depression or anxiety and also what can you do?

Depression

People with depression quite often don’t even realise they are suffering from it until they come out the other side and can look back objectively. There are tell-tale signs though. Things to look out for in others might be:

• Binge eating
• Excessive drinking (alcohol)
• Continuing black moods / negativity
• Aggressive behaviour either physically or verbally
• Constant complaining
• Becoming withdrawn
• Lack of sex drive
• Decrease of physical touch with loved ones
• A sense of helplessness
• A sense of hopelessness

Things you can do to help:

• Realise that IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT!! As a partner you may be getting the brunt of the blame and or anger. People tend to hurt the ones they love more than anything else.
• If there are children in the situation then let them realise that it’s not their fault either.
• Suggest a trip to the GP, for some this may be tricky so sometimes it may be necessary to let your partner realise for themselves that something is wrong. Ways of doing this could be talking about a ‘friend’ who suffers with depression and explaining the symptoms to them.
• Encourage positive talk, ask your partner all the good things that happened to them
• Teach mindfulness or self hypnosis
• Encourage physical exercise, releasing endorphins is a great way to reduce depression
• Eat healthily, there is so much evidence to show that a poor diet results in poor mental health it can’t be ignored.
• Take time out, for many people taking a holiday is a regular habit but what about just going out for a walk in the countryside? Getting away from it all can really help with mild depression.
• Talk to others support groups are becoming more popular for those whose loved ones suffer with depression.
• Boost your partners ego, let them know what they’re good at. This can be done in conversation rather than by bullet points, for example during a conversation about the drive to work you could easily put in something along the lines of – “well you know you’re a good driver”
• Create a pact to have a positive morning every morning, i.e. during the morning each family member has to mention ‘X’ amount of positive things. This is especially important when children are involved. Children and stress is another blog for another day but evidence shows that a calm positive pre-school routine has a very positive long term effect on a child’s mental health as opposed to a stressed pre-school routine.

If you do have any problems and are worried that  your partner may be suffering from the effects of depression please just fill out the form below and we will see what we can do to help.

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