[paintedblues]

So, I have a question - for other people who are dealing with depression, how do you communicate with your partners about it? I am having a hard time, because I'm going through a deep depression right now, but I don't really know how to communicate with my boyfriend about it. He is supportive and doesn't seem particularly bothered by it, but I'm really worried that he's pulling away. I think that mental illness is just not something that he signed on for, and I'm not really sure how much or how little to tell him. I just want to isolate myself when I'm feeling like this because I know that it can be a real burden to others, especially if it's something that might take a while for me to get better from. I always try to tell him about the things that I'm doing to work on it so that it won't seem like a hopeless situation to him, but even still, I feel like I should just suck it up and act happy so that he doesn't start to feel like being with me is terrible (even though it kind of is right now). I don't know - how can I still be a good girlfriend while trying to work through this? How much is too much to share and how much should I make sure to share so that he knows what's going on with me?

[RomanSunburn]

Others might disagree with my approach - you have to do what works for you - but I always tell my husband everything. Granted, we've been married for almost two years, and together for another 6 or so before that. I don't know how long you've been with him, and I'm not really sure how much I told my husband in the beginning.

I think I would at least tell him your thoughts on it. How you want to isolate because you don't want to be a burden to him, and how you're worried about not being a good girlfriend. Don't let the negative thoughts about how you think he must feel cloud your head. If he didn't want to be with you, he wouldn't. I realize how incredibly tough it is, but you have to focus on re-wiring your thought patterns away from negativity and focus on positive (or at least neutral) things. If you start having negative thoughts about your relationship, try writing them down and then write down a counter statement, such as "He doesn't love me." "That's not true, he loves me very much." The act of writing it down always helped me.

I hope that helped a little. I understand how hard it is for both of you right now.