WORDS LAURA POTTER
When we swipe right, become ‘Facebook official’, or say ‘I do’, few of us worry about how we’d support our partner if they became depressed. But with as many as 10 per cent of us likely to experience depression in our lifetime, the odds of playing that role are pretty high. ‘There’s a lot of support for people with mental health issues, but what isn’t often recognised is how difficult it is for partners,’ says Dr Chi-Chi Obuaya, consultant psychiatrist at The Nightingale Hospital, London. ‘Yet it’s estimated that around one in five carers of people who have mental health problems develop depression themselves.’ Here’s how to avoid being part of that statistic…