Online Therapy in Las Vegas: Depression and Relationships
Depression Affects All Areas of Life
Symptoms of depression include not wanting to do things, feeling down or hopeless, having trouble with sleep, being tired all the time, issues with eating, feeling bad about yourself, trouble concentrating, and having thoughts that you’d be better off dead. It’s no wonder why having depression can affect your life significantly. One of the areas of life that can be destroyed by having depression is your romantic relationships.
In some cases, when a person has a depressive episode, they may have cognitive distortions. Cognitive distortions are ways of thinking that are often negative and inaccurate. Dr. David Burns says that cognitive distortions can include all-or-nothing thinking, disqualifying the positive, magnification and minimization. All-or-nothing thinking is thinking in extremes, with no gray. Disqualifying the positive is when a positive experience occurs but we convince ourselves that it’s not actually good. We find ways to say that this experience ‘doesn’t count.’ When we magnify and minimize, we minimize the positive aspects and magnify the negative aspects of the situation. Cognitive distortions can lead to depression and relationship problems.
Depression Affects Relationships
Using all-or-nothing thinking can be dangerous in a romantic relationship. An example is if one partner is frustrated that the other partner never listens. When the expectations of not listening are met, this can create bitter feelings. There will clearly be times when the partner is listening but with all or nothing thinking, the exceptions will be ignored.
With disqualifying the positive, an example could be if one partner gave another a compliment. In this situation, the receiving partner could brush off the compliment and say that the giver was just being nice. They could believe that the compliment isn’t genuine. They could believe that the compliment is a way to butter that person up so they can get what they want out of them. This thinking could alienate the giver of the compliment because their intentions could be whole-heart and come from a place of love and caring. Disqualifying the positive could heart your relationship.
For magnifying and minimizing the situation, how and what we focus on can either build the relationship or tear it down. An example is when a person is having one of those off days and gives the brunt of the horrible day to their partner unknowingly. The rough day was of no fault to their partner but their partner is on the receiving end of it. After apologizing for the outburst to their partner, the person may magnify the outburst for being who they are all the time, as opposed to a one-off. They may minimize how much of a lovely person they are the rest of the time. Magnifying and minimizing different aspects can hurt your romantic relationships.
Start Online Therapy in Las Vegas
Having depression and cognitive distortions can have a negative effect on your relationship. When you want to build your base of emotional intelligence, get online therapy in Las Vegas today. Reach out for a free 15-minute consultation. I’m Chris Rabanera. I provide online therapy in California, online therapy in Michigan, and online therapy in Las Vegas. I work with high-achievers on issues such as physician burnout, grief counseling, anxiety, depression & individuals dealing with relationships. I also specialize in therapy for men.
