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If you’re in a relationship with someone experiencing depression:

  • Remember, your role is to offer support and encourage your loved one to seek professional help.  Encourage your partner not to settle for partial improvement and explain that with the right treatment, people with depression can regain their lives.
  • Although you may be prepared to do anything and everything to help, don’t try to take over the life of someone who is depressed. Your loved one may seem overwhelmed, incapable, or frustrated, but you can’t reconstruct his or her life.
  • Give advice in the form of options. For example, recommend a physician for your partner to see or suggest support groups you think may be a step toward alleviating his or her symptoms.

  • Remember that depression is a real illness that should be taken seriously.  Don’t belittle the person by saying things such as “Snap out of it,” “Get over it” or “Everyone feels down now and then.”  Try your best to understand the illness.
  • Recognize that depression is not rational.  It is painful to be rejected, scorned, or ignored, but this may be how your loved one responds to your efforts to help.
  • Care for yourself.  Carve out time to pursue your own interests and to socialize even when your partner can’t join you.  You might also want to consider seeking individual counseling.