Mending a broken heart (long, sorry)

[LBDD]

A very dear friend has just broken up with her DP of 18 months and is absolutely broken hearted.
He was at the start of an acrimonious divorce when they met through mutual friends and now things are progressing and the family home has just sold. He has two DC who have taken it very hard and are giving him a really hard time, his ex is also not making it any easier even thought all accounts it was not a happy marriage.
So after 18 months of being wined and dined for one day a week and speaking in phone/texting a dozen times a day (he has his DC a couple of times a week and is heavily involved in their lives obviously)DFs DP has announced he should never have got involved so soon and wants to break up until he's got his head sorted.
DF has a history of depression and is currently falling apart. She wants to sleep all the time and just can't see a future. She really thought they had a future together and is just devastated.
The trouble is that because of the limited time they spent together they never argued, it was all just perfect and he treated her like a princess. How can I help her get through this and make her see there is life after him and it's not a bleak future. She thought she had found the love if her life and I just want to help her. It doesn't help that all her close friends are happily married with families and she thought it was her chance.

Thank you Fab, I have told her to see her GP to see if medication could help but she's reluctant to go back on ADs as was on them for years and was happy to get off them (coincidentally about the same time she and DP got together).
I'm just so worried about her, she's lovely but was single for a long time before meeting him and is secretly desperate for a partner to 'look after her'. She's late forties so unlikely to have children now but would have loved them too.

Oh your poor friend:(

Has it just happened? Its normal to be devastated I think, but it takes time. She really ought to see her gp though.

He sounds a dreadful man, no doubt he told her alsorts as well. Whether or not he meant to be cruel I don't know, but don't let her call him or text him etc if you can. Maintain a silence, and be very very kind with herself. That means giving your self permission to be unhappy for a couple of weeks and setting a deadline for moving on. It can be extended or bought forward as she feels.

Analysing why he did it might make her go further within herself. If she can accept he did and there's nothing she can do it might be more beneficial - depends if she wallows or gets angry.

Oh that's awful for your friend. I think it's a lesson learned though - people who are fresh out of serious relationships don't tend to make reliable partners for all sorts of reasons.

She should see her GP. It's a hard habit to break but I also think she'll need support to escape from the mindset that she's lost the only chance of happiness, and that happiness comes in the form of a relationship (as we only have to look at the relationships board on any given day to see that isn't the case). She's lucky to have you there watching her back. Be at pains to remind her that even if he gets back in touch (but I think he won't) she should tell him she thinks he's right - he isn't ready for anything and she's moving on.