Friendship Frictions Between Depression and Anxiety

As someone prone to anxiety, being friends with someone with depression comes with many challenges

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

I’ve had periods of my life when numbness and darkness took over.

Fortunately for me, I’ve always managed to clamber out of these holes. But I can’t seem to shake what I’ve now come to recognise as social anxiety.

I have a degree in psychology, and I read relentlessly about it, along with mental health, trauma, and personal growth. I am not an expert, but I consider myself well-informed and an ally to those experiencing mental health struggles.

I offer compassion and validation to my friends and acquaintances who reveal their struggles to me. I listen without judgment. No toxic positivity here!

But what I’m finding, time and again, is the behaviour often associated with depression can exacerbate my anxiety.

I think it is right and fair that we give sufferers of mental health inflictions dispensation. But I can’t help but wonder if I am too quick to make excuses for others, which leads to them taking from my pot without giving anything back — leaving me emp…