3 ms·

Having helped a person through a severe depressive episode that lasted many months, I have to say there is a lot more to it than this article suggests. Sometime

Having helped a person through a severe depressive episode that lasted many months, I have to say there is a lot more to it than this article suggests. Sometimes I had to talk and not listen, because I needed my partner to eat for the first time that day, or needed to coerce them to keep their doctor or therapy appointments because if they didn't, they would rapidly end up disconnected from any professional care. I found that their disposition came in waves and would be worse for a few days and better for a few days, and during those better days we could work together on damage control from all the bedridden days, and discuss different treatment options to pursue. But even during the worst days, I still needed to get them to eat, or stop them from wandering off in the middle of the night, or get them to call back their panicked family member. It was hard work.

eloeffler 5y ago
The biggest respect for your hard work (as well for the person that you helped, of course). This article kind of suggested that it contains advice for the people that provide care, but it still misses their personal perspective and what they can do to care for themselves. It is often also especially hard to find advice for people who become caregivers in a relationship that is not inherited / biological but rather voluntary. I hope you had a good network of people to support you during that time, as well.
top_sigrid 5y ago
Thank you for pointing this out! I really appreciate people talking and being open about this topic and discussions/threads like these. But with this topic, generalization in general is pretty hard. With mental illnesses there are so much individual conditions, personal history/socialization, charachter etc. playing into it, that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to this. Coping with depression and similar with others is a very individual task and just like you said, different situations and characters call for dealing with it very specifically.

eloeffler 5y ago

The biggest respect for your hard work (as well for the person that you helped, of course). This article kind of suggested that it contains advice for the people that provide care, but it still misses their personal perspective and what they can do to care for themselves. It is often also especially hard to find advice for people who become caregivers in a relationship that is not inherited / biological but rather voluntary. I hope you had a good network of people to support you during that time, as well.

top_sigrid 5y ago

Thank you for pointing this out! I really appreciate people talking and being open about this topic and discussions/threads like these. But with this topic, generalization in general is pretty hard. With mental illnesses there are so much individual conditions, personal history/socialization, charachter etc. playing into it, that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to this. Coping with depression and similar with others is a very individual task and just like you said, different situations and characters call for dealing with it very specifically.