Love and depression

Just read this article: Why love won't cure your depression

Interesting perspective, though the whole hook up scenario she describes isn't valid in my case (it does, however, remind me of the counsellor I had once who said it was a shame I didn't agree with sex outside marriage because a good shag would do wonders for my endorphins...that was when I decided to stop seeing her and found a Christian counsellor. Clearly the 'good shag' solution doesn't work for the author of this article either).

I don't like the 'happy ever after' ending, which is probably a bit tongue in cheek but kind of reads like the author didn't know how to end the article. And doesn't really say anything about what if you don't end up in a relationship.

But I do agree it's important to work on depression outside of a romantic relationship (whether or not you ever have one) and not to believe that falling in love or even being in a relationship will cure you. It's also hard to know, when you're a depressive in a relationship, how much of the stuff you deal with is just normal relationship stuff and how much is warped by your depression (or their depression).

I would add to this, as a Christian, that it's important to keep speaking the truth to yourself that your identity is in Christ and not in your relationship. It's something most Christians are sure of, on an intellectual level, but on an emotional level it can be all too easy to get sidetracked and put too much value on what someone else thinks of you. That's not to say that what your spouse or love interest thinks of you isn't important, of course it is. But what they think of you (whether good or bad) does not alter what Jesus thinks of you. And he loves you, more than any human ever could. That is so reassuring.