[The Rusty Spork]

I have been diagnosed with my depression for nearly a year now but have had it for a lot longer. However, my main problem at the moment is explaining my condition in a coherent and workeable manner to my girlfriend. She is incredibly supportive and it frustrates me that I treat her in a dismissive and poor manner when talking about my condition.

I was just wondering if anyone had any books or personal ways of explaining it to others that worked for them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

[superwolf]

Have you considered writing her a letter? Sometimes it's a lot easier to explain yourself on paper, and you'll be able to redraft what you say and hopefully express yourself better.

[raspberrybubbles]

I've found the book 'I had a black dog' to be useful when trying to explain depression to people

[angelbones]

(Original post by superwolf)
Have you considered writing her a letter? Sometimes it's a lot easier to explain yourself on paper, and you'll be able to redraft what you say and hopefully express yourself better.

Yeah, I agree with this.

I'd known my partner for 3 years before we got together, and so he was aware of things as they were going on (like my initial diagnosis, etc), which meant it wasn't that hard to talk about it with him. But for someone who didn't know me as well, I'd prefer to write it down and have them read it. You say she's already very supportive - I'm sure she'll understand if you find it easier to explain it that way, rather than face to face.