How Does Depression Affect Relationships?

According to the Oxford Dictionary ‘depression is a low mood that lasts for weeks or months and affects your daily life.’ So, how does this affect our relationships? Personally, when I first started having feelings of depression, I felt really disconnected from everyone. I started to get irritated by anyone who was loud or happy or content. Of course, that was a bit of jealousy too. Luckily, I never lost friends when I started with these emotions, some of my relationships grew stronger because of it. It was a learning curve for everyone.

Friendships / Relationships

When someone is depressed in a friendship or relationship they will start to withdraw. This is a symptom of depression itself. Personally, it is a feeling of being a burden or annoying which means that by withdrawing from a friendship or relationship you think you are helping that person out (you’re not!). Someone who is depressed might not know they are withdrawing, or it could be their way of asking for help.

Helping a Friend / Partner with Depression

I would say the most important way to help someone who is depressed is by telling or showing that you support them. It will be a challenge and at times the friendship might feel like it is ending. If the friendship is strong enough it can survive. You should be there to listen and not necessarily fix anything. If you are really worried about them then you could research more about depression or suggest they see a doctor or a therapist.

Family Relationships

Most people are close to someone who has experienced depression at some point in their lives. If someone who has depression is living with their family, it can mean that they see all the major signs. For example, a messy room, unwashed clothes, skipping meals and spending all day in bed. If a family member does not realise this is depression, they might react to this in a negative way and think they are being ‘lazy’.

Helping a Family Member with Depression

One way of helping a family member with depression is by looking for those signs that I talked about previously. Do some research into how to talk to them. For example, by saying ‘snap out of it’ you are being more of a hindrance than helping them. Your aim should be to be there for them if they want to talk about it and to show support instead of judgement.