my girlfriend has extreme depression & it kills me inside to see her really sad . So what should I do ? I wanna help her ? How could i cheer her up when she's down? - girlytch
"Extreme" depression may indicate the need for medical intervention. Otherwise, when I'm depressed what I don't want is someone trying to change how I feel. When someone wants me to pretend to feel good so that they don't have to worry, I feel used, self conscious and even more shitty. When I'm depressed, what I like is space, understanding and compassion. Acts of unconditional love and kindness helps. When someone is kind - not because they want me to change so that they feel reassured, but because they just value me - that feels good.
Major clinical depression is something that, from what I've observed, doesn't get manageable without medical intervention. Exercise (as in, walking around the block once a day) helps. Lots of sleep helps. However, major black depression that goes on for a significant time is not something I've seen folks pull out of alone.
There's a big difference between being depressed for a month because I lost my home, job and family when I came out and being horribly depressed for a month just because I'm horribly depressed. Those two types of depression can look a lot a like, but from what I've seen, they aren't.
The transgender center in Houston offers a free therapist-led depression group. You may check your local queer centers to see if they have anything similar.
Major clinical depression is something that, from what I've observed, doesn't get manageable without medical intervention. Exercise (as in, walking around the block once a day) helps. Lots of sleep helps. However, major black depression that goes on for a significant time is not something I've seen folks pull out of alone.
There's a big difference between being depressed for a month because I lost my home, job and family when I came out and being horribly depressed for a month just because I'm horribly depressed. Those two types of depression can look a lot a like, but from what I've seen, they aren't.
The transgender center in Houston offers a free therapist-led depression group. You may check your local queer centers to see if they have anything similar.