Chowrangi

Depression can be a very lonely illness and your relationships are a key part of how you cope with your depression. You need friends for support. Not just good weather friends but friends who can support you when you’re down. If one of these friends is also depressed it is not necessarily a bad thing. You can understand each other and perhaps be there on each other’s bad days (but not if you’re having a bad time at the same time).

Depression is a difficult illness to really get rid of. Once you have had it there is always the possibility of a recurrence. If you have recovered from your depression but are still in a relationship with someone who is depressed it is very difficult to stay recovered. Also, you may find that you want to get out of the relationship but feel trapped because you know that the other person will get worse. The stress of this may send you back into depression. This is the second outcome - you will both remain depressed.

There are two remaining possible outcomes - the first is that you will both get better and stay together. This is highly unlikely but not impossible. You will both be different people when you are better, with different views and personalities from when you first got together. You may still like each other but want different things. It would be great if you both manage to help each other through depression and out the other side but the normal stresses and strains of a relationship make this unlikely.

The other outcome is that one of you will get better and you will stay together. This is the least likely to happen. If you recover from depression and live with someone who is depressed you are not likely to be really happy. You may still remember the feelings and understand but there may be an element of “I got through it so you should be able to as well.”

Bear in mind that a long-term partnership is not necessarily a bad thing when you are depressed but please think about the consequences of getting together with another depressed person. Try to help each other and be there for each other but keep enough distance between you so that you help each other and not bring each other down. In other words, stay friends and don’t take each other for granted.

Other posts by Kashif Aziz

• Taliban of Punjab Police - March 3rd, 2010
• Chile Earthquake, Hawaii Tsunami and Social Media - February 28th, 2010
• President Zardari apologized for childbirth in rickshaw - February 26th, 2010
• Reason of Traffic Jams in Karachi - February 19th, 2010
• Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Top Most Taliban Leader Caught in Karachi - February 16th, 2010
• PTCL Launches Largest Data Center of Pakistan - February 15th, 2010
• Reflections On Twin Blasts in Karachi - February 6th, 2010
• Aafia Siddiqui convicted, may be sentenced for 60 years - February 4th, 2010
• Dawn News going down the Drain? - January 30th, 2010
• Has Karachi Gone To Dogs? - January 27th, 2010