Question by MacCheese: How to help a HSP in depression?
hi, my gf is a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). She is going through i believe a deep depression now after she’s undergone the removal of a growth. Since the operation she has been feeling that she is at the junction of her life where she’s lost and not knowing what she wants. Family matters and work are also causing her plenty of stress, and relationship has become a luxury that she couldn’t afford or handle..she often tells me that she’s at the edge of breaking down, and feels that she has got no more energy to put any effort into our relationship. I keep telling her it’s ok, i’m here to support her and i’m not expecting anything from her. Being a HSP, she needs a lot of solutitude time and she hasn’t been getting enough of that..She is feeling not right about her body and the fear of going through the operation is affecting her tremendously…she loves me yet touching her has become a torture for her as if i’m just some guys out there..those are her words..I’ve tried supporting h

Best answer:

Answer by Sacha R
It’s a fairly common effect of depression, in females. My standard post follows: See depression treatments, at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris in section 2, and consult a doctor, to eliminate thyroid problems, etc. as possible contributing factors: also seek a referral to a therapist using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy. It is your decision, and yours alone, as to whether to take any antidepressants offered, but, before you do, read section 1, and check medications out at www.drugs.com so you will be on the lookout for side effects, like sexual dysfunction. My strong recommendation, however, is to follow the advice of my doctor, his partner, and also Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP, and Dr. Mercola, as well, at http://www.mercola.com and avoid antidepressants (page 2V refers, & antidepressant websites: page 2). All of their advice, (except prayer, because many people are not religious) I have incorporated into the “core treatments”, including others as options, such as herbal remedies. If you are diagnosed with clinical (major) depression, antidepressants may be necessary for a while, which will give the treatments time to become effective. The antidepressants themselves need at least several days, or even many weeks to become effective. It’s a good idea to taper off them slowly, with medical advice, after several months, say, to a couple of years, at most, because they are only effective in the long term for about 30% of people. Because of this, you would be well advised to begin the treatments immediately, and maintain them. I’d just thank your mental health care provider, and pocket the prescription, trying the treatments for a few months, to see if they are sufficient for you, before considering filling it (unless clinically depressed, and having great difficulty functioning, in which case I’d take them). Stress is addressed on page 42. Print/refer her. Talk to her family, telling them that she really needs their support right now, or big problems lie ahead for both her, and them. Can you contact her workplace, and ask that they ease off with her for a several weeks, if they value her, and want to keep her, as she recovers, or would she not want that, and consider it inappropriate?

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