Supporting OH with anxiety/depression

[BrownF89]

Morning all and HNY!

Just thinking about the year ahead and wondering if anyone is living with a partner with anxiety/depression?

Are there support groups for spouses going through this? I know there are lots of groups for those suffering directly but from what I can see not much for us.

My OH has suffered with anxiety for years looking back, and had a full breakdown in 2019. Time off work for both of us etc.

The longer his anxiety goes on the more I realise just how badly it's affecting me. I'm not the person I was. I live in constant fear of him taking his own life and never know who I'm waking up with each day.

I've spoken to the Drs and without signing me off work there's not much they offer. I'm sat here thinking I can't be the only partner in this situation so thought I'd ask if anyone knows of anything. Or similarly... has anyone got any experience of setting up support groups and is able to offer some advice?

Thank you

F x

Apart from seeking support for yourself - which you are doing - I suppose you need to ask yourself whether he is doing everything he can to help himself. Is he seeking out therapy, is he taking medication? Because if he isn't doing those things, you need to ask yourself whether he has the right to inflict himself on you.

If he is indeed doing everything possible but life is still bad for both of you, it's more difficult.

Hi, I'm not sure I have a lot to offer, other than my OH has suffered from depression on and off for many years and I know how hard it is trying to support. We've been in cycles of months of depression and then maybe up to a year of being absolutely fine - it's incredibly hard to deal with as you are on a knife edge about what happens next. I went into counselling myself to cope with a really bad bout of it he had as I found it especially hard when he was well as somehow that made me so angry. Difficult to explain why, but it was like he expected me to snap back to normal life with no problem after maybe 2 months of him not speaking or whatever. I found online forums very helpful and there was one US one in particular that was very active but I can't now find it for you. If I do find it, I'll come back and tell you. Just venting to people who have been through this is very helpful. Sending all my good wishes to you anyway.

@BrownF89 I've just found the site I was trying to think of (sorry, I'm muckypaws really, name changed) and it's depressionfallout www.tapatalk.com/groups/depressionfalloutmessageboard/discussion/all

I don't know if you will find it useful or not - it's American and sometimes a bit 'full on' at times, but full of people who have been where you are and have a lot of experience. It's specifically for people who have partners with depression. Best of luck x