Hi

First let me say ive thought about whether to post this, as I have no wish to insult anyone who has a strong faith - my own family have so that is not my intention.

My long distance partner (we have plans to move in together as soon as I get a job near him) has had a difficult time recently, describing his depression as being as low as its been in 6 years. I gently encouraged him to see his doctor and he has now been on SSRIs for 10 weeks and although he's not happy - he is in a place where he feels it is tolerable.

I have been clinically depressed once before myself and had hoped he would pursue counselling or therapy once his symptoms abated to get to the root cause of his problems - he has poor self esteam which is reinforced by a number of circumstances out of his control at the moment.

Hes always been a (very) ocaisional churchgoer, but now hes there at least twice a week and he carries a bible everywhere to read. Its difficult to explain but he wants to tell everyone about it, whereas in my experience religion is something deeply personal.

In the past he has used both alcohol and drugs as "crutches". I worry he has now found another crutch to divert himself with, albiet a totally different one.

Am I right to worry? I'd do anything to help him through and dont find religion itself threatening at all, what I worry about is his recovery and that he might be avoiding his treatment and becoming the confident person he deserves to be - he's a wonderful man.

Weirdly I can deal with most things depression has thrown at me in life but I dont feel able to address this directly.