Personal stuff and mental health stuff under the cut.
For the last few months it's been really obvious things haven't been going great with my girlfriend. We have an amazing time together but then she'll suddenly lapse into these long silences, obviously grumpy at me and I'll just know I've said something wrong but can't for the life of me figure out what and she wouldn't tell me. Gradually she's been asking for more time apart, mentioned that she might move in with her folks for a couple of weeks (we don't live together, but within walking distance of each other), and referenced talking to others about what's bothering her rather than talking to me. She's also yet to introduce me to her parents after 2 years of us being together.
I was 90% sure she was going to dump me, and was caught between definitely not wanting that to happen and wondering if it would be a relief if she did because then I could stop second guessing everything I said.
Then yesterday she made an overtly rude comment, immediately apologised, and then explained that she's been diagnosed with depression, and it reframed the last few months immediately.
Depression is a bitch. It doesn't just make you sad. It almost makes you irritable and anybody expressing any positive comments around you can feel like they're rubbing their lives in your face. She's always been keen on running but has lost any joy in it recently while I've been running a lot, which feels like an oblique fuck you. Sometimes I am a bit thoughtless and say the wrong thing, and that digs a lot harder when she's already in a bad place.
And then she feels worse when she snaps at me because she doesn't want me associating time with her with pain, so the offer to move in with her folks for a couple of weeks was an effort to spare me.
I let her know that from my perspective, most of the time I have a good time with her. I offered for us to take a break if she thought it might help.
We're still together. There's going to be other moments like this while she figures out her path to recovery, but I love her and after we'd talked through everything we spent a long time just cuddling. If you've read this far and anything in it chimes with you, I'm begging you to be honest with the people you care about. Crushing down your reactions for the sake of not inconveniencing anybody will end up, ironically, causing more pain.