Managing depression in relationships

If you have a partner or husband suffering with depression, Christine McRae, of  The Trail Blazing Woman advises that open communication is one of the keys to helping your loved one.

This is insight 10 of the 10 insights I promised to share with you to give you greater support and understanding to manage the journey of supporting a partner suffering with depression.

This is the magical thread that weaves all the other insights together so you have a complete picture of how to manage your partner’s depression.  If you haven’t read the other insights, please go to my website www.trailblazingwoman.com.au and visit the blogs I have posted. 

Believe you me.  The temptation is very strong to go silent on your partner when they are in a depressed cycle.  To do anything else seems like it is just all too hard and takes too much energy, so why bother. 

Silence is NOT golden when it comes to managing a partner with depression. 

 I discovered this the hard way.  I would go silent because I did not know what else to do.  I did not understand what was happening.  I was hurting and trying to manage the situation all on my own. 

I allowed myself to become overwhelmed.  The easiest thing to do was to bury it all into “silence”.  I am wondering – do you feel like this at times as you struggle to support your depressed partner?

My inability to communicate effectively

The inability on my part to communicate effectively when my partner was hurting the most caused considerable tension and angst between us.  It was a hindrance not a help. 

 It was therefore imperative that I found the tools to assist me keep the channels of communication open when I felt like “clamming up”.

Here are a just a couple of the gems I found that really helped me keep the channels of communication open:

• Remember that there is no shame in depression 
• The more openly that you talk about this with your partner the quicker the healing process will take place
• Another key is feeling free to express yourself in communication without the fear that this might trigger off an adverse reaction in your partner 

As your partner senses the strength and understanding you express in your communications with them, they too will be encouraged to more openly and honestly communicate with you.

If you would like to understand more about the tools I discovered to assist me keep the channels of communication open with my partner please email me with your questions to christine@trailblazingwoman.com.au.   I look forward to assisting you turn your situation around.

 Christine McRae, The Trail Blazing Woman, christine@trailblazingwoman.com.au

©January 2010, The Trail Blazing Woman