Friendship Frictions Between Depression and Anxiety
As someone prone to anxiety, being friends with someone with depression comes with many challenges
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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…