How to support a new partner going through a mental health crisis?
My partner and I have only known each other/been together for 4 months. We live in separate households. Before we met she suffered a violent, traumatic incident. Since being in social isolation and losing her job due to covid19, her assailant was caught by the police and she is waiting to hear when she has to face him in court. Her mental health has understandably taken a severe downturn over the past 2 months. All of her feelings at this time make sense. She goes through mood swings. When she is in a good mood, she is the sweetest, funniest, most caring person I have known, and goes out of her way to create fun experiences for us. But she also calls me several times a day in tears, and refuses to talk, but asks only that I 'be there' aka listen to her cry. She suffers from what I'm fairly sure is memory loss and dissociative episodes. When I try to talk to her about it she gets angry and defensive, and refuses to talk to a psychologist. I am very privileged to have not needed mental health support in my own life, but I feel totally unequipped to do anything but watch her spiral. I feel like I'm her only emotional support system at the moment, but it's having a huge negative impact on other aspects of my life. She calls me during my work hours to cry. She has a lot of anger that she doesn't know where to place. She is a wonderful person otherwise and I want to be supportive. When I tell her things will get better and she'll get through this, she tells me no, it'll never get better. There is nothing I can say that reassures her, and she can't bring herself to speak with anyone else. She may need specialist help but she can't afford it. I don't want her to fall through the cracks. I don't know how to navigate this situation. I would appreciate any advice.
@redCamp9146 thank you for sharing this. I really want to thank you for supporting her during this difficult situation that she is going through. It sounds like she would need some additional support which she is refusing. It would be great if she could also talk to a friend or a therapist about this. Also, it sounds like you would need some additional support with this as well as it has affected your everyday life. You can check here and connect with a listener to talk about this more and get the support or connect with a therapist here on 7 Cups. I am here for virtual support and I hope you both feel better soon :)