How to help my fiance deal with depression without medication?!
Question: Every since I met my fiance he has been on anti-depressants for his depression and anxiety. Well it has caused some issues in the bedroom (no sex drive) so he has decided to wean of his meds (doctor approved) and now I am getting really nervous. He is alot quieter, uninterested in things, and gets really irratible easy. He is excerising and eating right. Which is something the doc told him will help him. Is there anything I can do to help him? Any women or men that have gone though this with there other half? Thanks in advance.
Answers: Every since I met my fiance he has been on anti-depressants for his depression and anxiety. Well it has caused some issues in the bedroom (no sex drive) so he has decided to wean of his meds (doctor approved) and now I am getting really nervous. He is alot quieter, uninterested in things, and gets really irratible easy. He is excerising and eating right. Which is something the doc told him will help him. Is there anything I can do to help him? Any women or men that have gone though this with there other half? Thanks in advance.
You are doing lots by being supportive and being accepting of his condition. That being said, there is nothing you can *do*, because your fiance suffers from an illness, and the fact of the matter is that if he suffers symptoms of depression severly while getting off his meds, he may need to go back on them in order to "feel himself", or so to speak. While it could be expected that he would have some negative effect of getting off his medication, it would appear that he is showing depressive symptoms already, and this is something that should be evaluated by his physician. While diet and exercise may be helpful, they will not "cure" his depression. Kind of like a diabetic - diet and exercise help support treatment, but a diabetic needs insulin to live. People who suffer with depression don't process brain chemistry the same way - and it's not something, unfortunately, that they can "buck up" and choose to feel or not - or something that diet and exercise can fix. Those things help by simulating endorphins and keeping them in good health, but don't cure the underlying problem.
Continue to be supportive and kind. Encourage him to do things that he might enjoy, even if he seems reluctant at first. Give him space if needed. Eduate yourself on depression, it's course and treatment options. Maybe consider some counselling for both of you. If his irritability and apathetic affect continue, then you need to help him get back on meds, and work together to solve the very difficult effects that can have in the bedroom.
Good luck - it sounds that you are already doing a great job accepting him the way he is!
I have depression and I don't take medication. I usually want to just stay in the house and watch tv to escape my life when I'm depressed. But I just get up and do something. My fiance is gone on the weekends so I'm by myself. I take our dog to the dog park and watch her run around and have fun, and I'll tell you just getting outside really helps me out. It makes me want to feel better. Maybe try to get him outside? Get him to take walks with you, and while you're walking you guys can talk about things. You know whatever he wants to talk about. It will make him feel like he has a good connection with you and in turn will make him feel better about your relationship.. which in turn makes him feel better about his life. I tell you, when you want to be depressed you just have to get up. Do something, it will make him feel so much better.
Is there any type of hobby he likes to do. There is evidence to prove that through the use of activity, self-esteem and self-eficacy can be built. So maybe by doing something he likes, in return it can improve his overall well being.
Has he tried therapy?
Other than that, if he's exercising, eating well, socialising and spending time in the fresh air, and he's still depressed, it could be that he really does need some kind of antidepressants.
There are medications out there that don't affect sex drive, though. Maybe he should ask his doctor about one of them.