Q: my boyfriend broke up with me because he's depressed, i dont know how to move on with life
n february my boyfriend broke up with me. He said it was because he just didnt love me anymore. Three weeks after we broke up, he texted me and said he realized that he broke up with me because he had been facing depression. At this time, his depression wasn't bad. He missed his dad who worked in Alberta, and was stressed with school. So we tried going back out. Turns out, we rushed into the relationship, and for both of us it was just too hard. We mutually broke up because we both knew we couldn't be together when he was facing depression. I was still there for him, and we were like best friends. Two weeks after we broke up, my best friend tried to kill herself. I instantly thought of calling him. And when we were together we acted as if we were still dating. After a couple of times hanging out, we always resulted in crying together because we couldn't be together, therefore we came up with a conclusion that i would wait for him to get better, helping him along the way and once he was better we could start from there. For four weeks, i waited for him, and he seemed to be progressing, he told his dad everything, and he felt better. Just last week he told me that we were definitely getting back together, and i didnt have to worry. I was overjoyed, i have never been in love until i met this guy. However, just this week, he asked me if i could wait a little longer. Of course because i love him i said yes, i can't make him better, and i wanted to be there for him through everything. Then just the last three days he started talking really badly, he said he wanted to "live in a forest and hunt alone", he hated his friends, and everything about life. This made me really worry because he seemed to be getting really bad again. Lastly, yesterday he decided to tell me that he didn't want to be with me anymore, and i shouldn't wait around. He said he cared about me too much to keep me waiting, and he didn't know what he wanted anymore. This crushed me because after being there for him for 3 months, just waiting and supporting him, he just turned around and slapped me in the face. In the last three months ive forgotten how to make myself happy, or do anything for myself, all i know is how to sacrifice my feelings for him. Now that im at this point i feel so angry, and so hurt, i don't know what to do with myself.
Hi, lillyflower. You know, three months isn't all that long for an episode of depression to last and if your boyfriend isn't getting any professional help, it could last a while longer. My guess is that he doesn't want to feel pressured to "get better" while you are waiting for him because healing doesn't run by anybody's selected timetable. It's important that you take care of yourself, don't sit around waiting for him to get better. Sadly, a lot of times, even when the person does get better, the relationship is changed because either one or both people have changed in some way. It can be good change, but it might not be what you expect or what you think you want.
You might benefit from seeing a therapist yourself to help you deal with this and figure out what you want to do. It's not easy and I'm sorry you're having to go through this. Also, this may not be the only episode he has, so you may be in for some rough times down the road, even if he does recover from this one. Professional help never hurts. Take care and let us know how we can be of more support.
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