Clinical Depression in Couples Counseling

Are one or both of you feeling hopeless, isolated and not your usual self? 

Has one of you been worried about the other because of recent changes you are seeing in them, and you don’t know how to help them?

Do these thoughts often enter your mind?

• I am worthless and can’t do anything about it.
• I feel guilty for just wanting to eat, sleep and be alone.
• I hate who I am these days.
• I can’t stop crying, which makes me want to stay away from others.
• I feel gut-wrenching pain, but no one understands.
• My life and the world around me are dark. I hate it, but I can’t change it.

If you or your partner have experienced any variation of these thoughts and don’t feel like your usual self, chances are you may be suffering from depression.

And let’s face it, problems in relatioinships can be depressing! But it also works the other way around, with depression causing the relationship problems instead of hte relationship problems causing the depression.

Either way, depression is a terrible experience for the depressed person, and it can have profound affects on a relationship. It can affect motivation, interest in activities one used to enjoy (including sex), cause a person to stop caring about their close relationships, and even affect personal hygiene, because a person can stop caring about how they look, smell, and the impression they leave on others.

A deeply depressed person may be barely able to adequately care for themselves, much less show up for their partner. This can leave the other partner feeling lonely, helpless, even unloved.

Whether the depression is coming from the relationship problems, or depression is causing many of the problems in the relationship, treatment is available! 

When the depression is coming from the relationship problems, oftentimes couples counseling can be an important part of the treatment. As the relationship begins to improve, the depression will often start to improve. When the depression is primary, treating the depression can often help the relationship to improve.

Either way, I can help. Get in touch with me and let’s work together to help both the depression and the relationship!