How To Deal With Your Partner’s Mental Health
Supporting your partner with their mental health can be rewarding and challenging. The reward comes with witnessing the growth between you and your partner as well as seeing your partner heal and recover. The challenge is seen in the ups and downs as well as in keeping up with your own self-care.
3 ways to help your partner with their mental health
1. Start from a place of compassion and grace.
This means that you are removing judgment and showing up with patience, kindness, and generosity. What hurts relationships is when a partner criticizes the other or fails to give them support during difficult times.
An example:
You notice that your partner is feeling depressed. Instead of using negative terms or avoiding the situation. Try to provide words of support. Such as, “I am here for you.”
2. Take care of yourself.
Providing your partner with support can cause you to reduce your own self-care. It’s vital that you continue to show up for yourself. Doing so will provide your partner with leadership, a healthy role model, and give you the needed energy to support your partner.
Examples of self-care:
- Go for a walk.
- Take a bath.
- Watch a movie.
- Write in a journal.
3. Ask your partner for guidance.
When you notice that your partner is experiencing mental health difficulties, try to ask them for guidance. This may mean that you are taking the role of a student. Your partner can use this time to teach you what type of support they are looking for. During this time, please keep an eye on providing support that you are comfortable with.
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