X partner issue

[pnutter]

I hope it's ok to post this here
My dd stays with her Dad (who lives 2 hours away) every other Saturday .
He pays maintenance but everything else I do alone ie all school stuff, etc
Dd is 8 and told me before she went with her dad yesterday that he has told her that " there's no such thing as depression, it's made up "
I am currently not working due to severe depression. Dd has been through the mill and ive spoken to her about my depression in order to explain to her why I'm not working , my symptoms that may affect her etc She has had a course of counselling and is a young carers group.

Do you think I should tell x partner that he shouldn't have said that depression is not real as it must be very confusing for dd.
I just think it's a terribly stupid thing to say to a child .

I would explain to her that some people struggle with the concept because you can't 'see' mental illness like you can a broken leg etc but that doesn't make it any less real, it's just that some people aren't educated about it. I wouldn't bother engaging with the ignorant ex about it.

Ah ok thanks EH good plan

It is a terribly stupid thing for him to have said, how is it likely to be received if you try and speak to him though? If he's not likely to listen it might be better to explain to DD that people who are lucky enough not to have suffered MH issues often have no understanding of depression and that if she has any questions it would be better for her to get an informed answer from you and disregard what her dad might say as he has no experience of it. He obviously has a certain ignorant viewpoint and it's hard work trying to challenge that with some people, this might be a case of pick your battles you can't fix stupid and your energies might be better spent on ensuring DD is better educated than her dad.

Thanks fern . Yes no point mentioning to xdp as he will fly off the handle. I'll have a chat with dd when it crops up.