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How Depression Can Affect Your Marriage And Personal Relationships

How depression affects your marriageDepression can affect many aspects of your life in Clearwater, including your marriage and personal relationships. Finding the right treatment for depression can be difficult, and it can take years to try and overcome and manage the symptoms of this common mental health condition.

We’ll look at some of the ways that depression can impact your marriage and other personal relationships and consider some of the steps you can take to try and reduce the symptoms and impact of depression on your life.

Isolation and Distance

People who suffer from depression may find themselves becoming increasingly isolated or distant from the people they love. They may feel guilty or worthless and might not feel like other people want to spend time around them. Friends and relatives may not fully understand what a person with depression is going through. These are just some of the factors that can drive isolation and distance between people. In a marriage, depression can cause distance between a couple and result in tension and isolation within the relationship.

Irritability

This is one of the symptoms of depression, and it can cause problems in marriage and other relationships. When people are irritable or angry, other people might not understand the reasons why and might feel like they are the target of the anger and bad feelings. This can create tension between people and can damage close relationships like marriages and deep friendships.

Substance Abuse

Depression can drive people to use and abuse substances such as drugs and alcohol. In turn, this can impact a person’s behavior and affect close relationships with other people. In a marriage, this can be particularly problematic if a couple is living together and spending a lot of time in each other’s company. When the person’s spouse or partner doesn’t agree with or support the substance abuse, it can cause difficulties in the relationship.

The Challenge of Support

Supporting someone with depression can be challenging, and this can be one of the factors that impact a marriage or relationship. While short-term support from a partner might be possible, longer-term support in dealing with depression can be much more challenging and require lots of mental energy. Supporting someone to deal with the symptoms of depression can impact the mental health of the supporting person, creating a toxic situation for two people where there are feelings of resentment, anger, and anxiety.

Finding the Right Support

Finding the right treatment for depression is critical in order to remove some of these challenges and support a healthier and happier marriage. Here are some of the most popular types of treatment for depression.

  • Talking therapy: Talking therapy allows somebody suffering from depression to speak openly and candidly with a supportive professional. This can be helpful in a marriage when a person feels like they do not have anyone to speak with about their feelings and concerns.
  • Couples’ therapy: This form of talking therapy allows both people to be present and to talk through their problems together. This can help many couples to resolve deep-rooted issues in their relationship and get the support and treatment for depression that is needed to make progress.
  • Medication: In some cases, medication may be necessary as a treatment for depression and can help people who have tried many other options without success.

Getting the Best Treatment for Depression

It’s important to find the right treatments to get the best support for dealing with depression. There are different forms of treatment for depression in Clearwater, and you can speak with qualified professionals at Advantage Mental Health Center to determine the best way forward for you.

Picture Credit: VistaCreate