support for living with a depressed boyfriend

Just leave him alone for a while and don't expect anything from him.

newuser wrote:Just leave him alone for a while and don't expect anything from him.

You are entitled to your opinion, but I think this was absolutely horrible advice.

The last thing you want to let a depressed person do is isolate themselves. This will only substantiate their negative ideology, and give them justification to think they are worthless. When dealing with true clinical depression, it is a neurotransmitter imbalance, not a matter of will power. When clinically depressed people are left with no help, that's when you get tragedies like self harm, or even suicide. You should really think carefully of the ramifications before giving out such asinine advice; remember all these people have families and people who love them too...

thanks for that crax
I know for a fact that leaving my boyfriend alone doesnt help matters. its always what he asks for, but he will be the first one to admit when he's out of the fog that this only serves to make him feel worse in the long run.
things have been a lot better with us recently. I've managed to start seeing his depression as a disability, and so instead of trying to get it to go away i've started to accept that it is there and to try to buffer it as much as possible in the small ways that I can. letting him know its ok to feel how he feels. not getting annoyed with him for not being able to help around the housing. making sure he keeps eating a decent diet and gets a small amount of exercise. I think these things are all i can really do ....
XX

Hey cat it's been a while

I'm proud of the attitude you're starting to develop. Just make sure you don't tire yourself out. Treat yourself to nice things on his behalf lol. Btw how is your mental sanity, you sound a lot better then last time.