What is the best way to be there for a partner who is suffering from depression and several ongoing life stressors who seems to always push me away? things have often been strained for the past two or three months or so but she also mentioned around then that she was suffering from depression. At first I interpreted this as her just being down and that it would pass but I eventually came to notice that this very real for her and it wasn’t something that was just going to pass quickly. She requested space from me a few weeks ago and I’ve been trying to respect it was much as possible by letting her initiate contact and visits. When we’re together she’s often distant and physically unresponsive and I really don’t know how to react. It’s also clear to me that she perceives me as a stressor so I don’t want to burden her with these feelings of rejection that I receive pretty constantly. I feel like I made it clear previously that if she wanted to end things that I would accept it but she stated she didn’t want to and just needed time to work on things but I have this nagging fear that I’m eventually going to get a “we need to talk” and I’ll have just put myself though months of hurt and disappointment when I could have just taken the hurt at once and tried to move on. That being said, I want this to work. I have a genuine and deep affection for this woman and want to help her and be there for her which adds feeling powerless to the feelings of rejection. Any suggestions as to what I can do aside from what I’ve been doing? Should I keep trying to be physically affectionate? How can I avoid making myself the lightning rod for her anger and pain and instead being a source of fun and support?