I know my partner is all too aware of how his depression affects me and our son. Unfortunately that just adds to the burden of his illness. On top of his depression, interwoven with it is an enormous amount of guilt.

When he is depressed he cannot interpret anything in a positive light and so he doesn't think - my partner does so much for me, I really appreciate that, she must love me very much.

He thinks: I am such a +#++ boyfriends. I put my family through so much. They will not be able to stand this for much longer. They're going to hate me soon. They're going to leave. This is all my fault and I can't do anything about it.

But yeah, the lack of appreciation really hurts sometimes, there's no escaping that every now and again.