Living With a Depressed Spouse

Video Transcript

"I'm Joe Cuenco with Family Resources, today we are going to be talking about dealing with some of the challenges that your spouse may have. Specifically how to live with a depresses spouse. Living with a depressed spouse can really be trying on a relationship and it really, really requires someone to be very compassionate and understanding. Not only are you dealing with the depression but you may be dealing with some other factors that really cause depression. And they run the gamut, it may be an issue of unemployment, it may be that you've got some very serious health issues, maybe some other family issues or some family health issues. It may be some dependencies or maybe some psychological things that are being dealt with. So they really run the gamut and even worse could be issues with your children. But the suggestion would be really to get professional help. It's important to get this from a professional view and also perhaps maybe even medication as required. Often times this is something that can not be dealt with on your own and you really need help, you need help from support groups from the community resources and particularly from home. It requires a lot a patience and as I said before, compassion from your spouse. The spouse especially needs to be very supportive and help this individual work through whatever it is, whatever challenges they are facing. If it's a health issue, then being supportive making sure that they get nursed back to health and then deal with the depression and getting over that. Communication is key, listening, encouraging and trying to strengthen your partner. There maybe some self help books, there maybe some motivational books that are helpful, things that help build your inner strength and character. But also recognize that even though your partner is by your side, at some point in time it's time to get that general kick in the pants so to speak, if this depression has been carrying on too long. Compassion, love, and support absolutely need to be there but the person also needs to build , work on their own inner strength and begin to work through some of these challenges. That's how we deal with depression and living with a depressed spouse. I'm Joe Cuenco with family resources relationships for life."