Welcome to learning how living with depression changes your ability to connect with friends and family. When someone lives with depression they may struggle to connect with friends and family. This is often because we are sad and don’t feel strong enough to be hurt anymore.

One of the realities of relationships are that they make us vulnerable. A friend, parent or sibling may say something that hurts our feelings. If we are already upset, this may feel extremely hard. It is for this reason many of us make a choice to limit our contact with others. We begin to think that it is safer and more comfortable to be alone. This leads us into a dark place where we are no longer connected with others.

The goal of this is to share some hope for those who live with depression. It may seem scary to again try to be around others. There are several options that allow us to slowly connect again. There are many free support groups offered in local communities. These groups usually are filled with those who have faced depression. In these settings, people are honest and open about the struggles and issues they feel and experience.

You may learn about local support groups from The National Alliance on Mental Illness at http://www.nami.org and The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance at http://www.dbsalliance.org. One of the best parts of these organizations is they offer free groups and are open to families and individuals.

Our website was created by a depression and bipolar survivor who faced a severe battle with these issues. He was in and out of five psychiatric hospitals and it took a long time to slowly rebuild. He has been doing well for many years and educates others to live a full life when facing these problems.

We provide many resources on this website. Each day, we provide a daily magazine to teach about these topics. We also have a library of 450 videos teaching about these topics. The final piece of our work is a one on one daily coaching program with our founder.

You may call the office of Blake LeVine at (213) 304-9555 or email blakelevinecoach@gmail.com. The goal of our coaching program is to teach and support others. We help you set goals, learn optimism and have someone to support you daily. We know that without having positive influences in our lives it can be difficult. Thank you for coming to our page on living with depression and how it changes your ability to connect with friends and family.