How My Good Friend Helps Me Cope with Depression
I know I write a lot about how my family helps me cope with my schizoaffective disorder, but it's important to have friends, too. A lot of my friends live in different parts of the country or are really busy with their children while my husband Tom and I are childfree. Also, it doesn't help that I have a tendency to isolate. But I do have an old friend from high school with whom I'm still close and we go out for tea or coffee almost every week. Her name is Casey, and seeing her really helps me cope with my schizoaffective depression.
How She Helps Me Cope with Schizoaffective Depression
Casey helps me cope when she picks me up and we drive to our usual coffee shop where she gets tea and I get coffee. We talk about politics (there always seems to be something to talk about on that front these days), mutual friends, and our husbands. Casey is also childfree, so sometimes we talk about that. Although in Casey's case, she and her husband have lots of cats to care for.
Safe People Help Me Cope
Since my schizoaffective disorder causes me to isolate, there are very few people I feel comfortable around. I surround myself with safe people. Casey is one of my safe people who helps me cope with everything. A safe person is what you might think of--someone I feel safe being around. A safe person is someone who empowers me to be myself. I have very few such safe people outside my family.
So it's nice to have a safe person I've known for years who lives in my area and remains a close friend. Before I developed schizoaffective disorder, I had lots of friends and was always going to parties. Now, my schizoaffective anxiety makes me unable to go to parties. The reason I can't mingle more is that I get overstimulated. But it's lucky for me that I can still go out for coffee with a trusted friend like Casey.
Even with Schizoaffective Disorder, I Am Lucky
Even though I have schizoaffective disorder, I am very lucky. I am truly blessed to have so many people in my life--friends and family, near me or far away--who love me and help me cope with depression from schizoaffective disorder. I am very loved and very grateful for that. I have so many lights in my life, and Casey is one of them. I really hope that I am a light in her life--and in other people's lives--as well.
APA Reference
Caudy, E.
(2018, July 12). How My Good Friend Helps Me Cope with Depression, HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2024, November 5 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/creativeschizophrenia/2018/7/how-my-good-friend-helps-me-cope-with-depression
Author: Elizabeth Caudy
Friendship indicates crucial step ton maintaining satisfying mental health condition. In addition, friendship network create personal, professional and social welfare. So, it is of great importance to building, develop and maintain amicable social network, in order to have got safe and close friends, that are always ready to support and help you. When are in question mentally ill people the issue becomes more complex and intrigued, as well. Stigma and social exclusion toward mentally ill patients impede seriously social inclusion, and profoundly ruins social acceptance. However, it should seek and find out any friend, who is ready to help and to support you through daily life functioning. There are many good persons in each social milieu. Our deed is to chose and to find out any of them and to begin friendship relation, against big social prejudice toward people with mental disorders. The same is value for patient with depressive disorder, of any type and nature. Your genuine experience exhibits positive example on how to make good friendship, even it may be only one friend.