Posted by alexandra_k on October 4, 2004, at 19:37:20
In reply to How to inform new partner - lifelong depression?, posted by Sammybabe on October 1, 2004, at 14:48:34
I don't think that it would be too bad to tell someone that you get clinically depressed sometimes, in the sense that depression is something that most people can understand and sympathise with to a certain extent.
I wouldn't think that you would need to tell them for a while... I usually wait till I am good friends with someone before I disclose anything about my psych history (but then I have the hearing voices thing going on too...). I get clinically depressed sometimes, but this is something that my good friends figure out about me after a time and they usually say something about it before I do. I wouldn't think that you should tell anyone before you felt comfortable bringing it up in a relaxed way. You may find that you date people with similar stuff going on for them.
I wouldn't think of it as a lifelong battle, just something that you experience at times and something that may realistically come up at some point in the future. Sometimes it helps to emphasise and focus on continuities with 'normal' experience. A big enough difference in degree can lead to a difference in kind...
poster:alexandra_k
thread:397951
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/relate/20040917/msgs/398951.html