People living with a person who has chronic depression, how are YOU doing?

1. Not great
   — What_R_YOU_Doin_Here


2. My gf has depression, and it’s really hard sometimes. Here and there she’ll be in a great mood and then there’s no one better to talk to, but right now she’s going through a rough patch and I can see it’s affecting her. Often times she’ll spiral and say that she’s not good enough for me, that she doesn’t even like me, that she regrets ever meeting me, and when I try to distance myself and leave her alone she ends up hurting herself. I really want to help but I’m in a bind as to what to do.
   — TomIce1234


3. My mom has depression but she’s taking medication now and doing a lot better. My dad can make her laugh and we still enjoy family time. My adopted siblings make life a pain in the a** though.
   — bluecartoons






4. Living with my wife. What's interesting is we BOTH have it. But we tend to flip flop. I'm feeling a bit better (or, sometimes not feeling anything much rather than better) and she's pretty deep in the hole. It's tough. We both know it is. We acknowledge it sucks. We even sometimes have to sit down and just explain to each other how it sucks. But I'll hold her up her whole life if I have to. It's not fun, it's not easy, but to me she's worth the time.
   — LagoUrsine


5. I dated a girl with chronic anxiety and depression who was recovering from an eating disorder. It was wonderful being with her but it definitely delegitmitized my own mental health struggles in my mind. I felt like I couldn't feel bad ever because she had it worse which is a bad position to be in within a relationship. I would've loved for someone to have asked how I was doing while we were dating. Thanks op.
   — Cornshot


6. Reddit's online counselling ads, the pictures for them look extremely threatening to me for some reason
   — hear4help






7. not anymore, but my ex wife suffered from depression and was bipolar. I did the best I could, but it was exhausting. going home was always scary because I never knew what I would walk into, her on a high, or her in a crippling low which usually meant she was sleepy and cranky or was an evil evil bitch. we split up about 7 years ago, I've since met someone else and remarried. shes awesome and my friends have noticed a huge change in my personality
   — JohnLocke815


8. Good friend of mine, also my room mate, has pretty serious depression. He’s like a workaholic who is incredibly intelligent, good sense of humor, attractive, athletic, literally the whole package but his self worth is absolutely ruined. His standards for himself are outrageously high, and sometimes they rub off on me and I feel like I’m not good enough to hang around him. It took me a while just to come to terms with the fact that someone with so much to offer this world could be plagued by overwhelming thoughts of negativity, thereby stripping him of his happiness. I want to help him but idk how, I feel like sometimes listening isn’t enough.
   — Hardine081


9. It's bad for my own mental health a lot of the time, and is possibly contributing to a lot of things that are happening to me right now. Thanks for asking!
   — parisinsalem






10. Not living in the same house, but I'm his primary (and often only) person to help him. Actually doing pretty damn good. He's been recovering at a mostly-steady pace for several years, is better at holding down a job than I am, and hasn't had any serious instances of self-harm/suicidal urges in months if not a full year.
    — GeneralLemarc


11. Keep climbing the mountain. It's endless, but you manage your time spent and have more than a couple of hobbies. My routine is family, work 8-5, and church. I sell art on the side and freelance my designer skills. At church I am paid to play guitar and coordinating the music + in process to updating their website, and helping with PowerPoint. I ride a bike, road, mountain and gravel. Say all this, you have to keep going, stay busy and keep climbing. It's not easy and never think about giving up. Once you stop, all the feelings creep back in.
    — dcescott


12. My dad has it, I do as well but I’ll focus on him. It’s stressful even when my own issues get ruled out. He makes a lot of comments about what it will be like when he’s gone and it always takes my mind to “oh shit what if he offs himself, most of his family has”. He tries to pass those things off as joking, but the bit of truth hidden in there scares me. I’ve always been worried about him. When I was little I used to have nightmares about him doing it and would wake up crying. When my mom would be out of town I would pretend to be sick so we could stay home together. I miss him and he’s not even gone, so yes, it’s just stressful. I’m worried that I’ll be too much like him when I’m the parent and I don’t want my children ever feeling scared for me like that.
    — mkat23






13. Pretty terrible but thanks for asking. I wont off myself but I will embrace sweet death like an old friend.
    — thedirewolff21