The dependent belief system precludes true intimacy as well as true autonomy because getting too vulnerable can result in a feeling of fusion and lack of self-control. It is as if the person will not risk intimacy because they do not feel like the other will "come through" for them. Healthy intimate relationships are avoided, since the expectations and demands of normal close relationships are likely to be felt as confinement, control and domination. -- David Morris

** From 'Healing The Family Within' by Robert Subby, M.A., (c) 1990)

How do you think relationships and depression affect each other? What part does isolation play? What other factors contribute to the depression?