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[quote=Anonymous]No one has mentioned this, but could he have bipolar disorder?  You talk about cyclical depression, and in between, when he is up, having big ideas and such (very creative, etc.).  Bipolar can be a bit milder where the ideas they come up with are not completely off the wall, just extremely creative and could easily be seen as an asset in the right work environment.  Do you notice that in his good times he has all this creative energy and spends a lot of time working and being driven by these ideas, etc...like he is pretty "up" and being driven by an internal energy?  Then when he's down he is really down and can't get out of his own way, very shut down, etc. - well that you described already.  It even seems that you know it is about every 6 weeks.  That is pretty specific to be just regular depression, it does sound cyclical quite predictably and that is a symptom of bipolar.  Like I said, bipolar does not mean you have to be completely crazy-acting or nonsensical when in the manic phase, some are just very creative and more "up" in the manic phase.  I have known several people with bipolar and have a family member who is a psychologist, so have a bit of insight here....it just sounds possible....

I have a DH with the same problem, the same job stress but he's had to stay at that job, depression, etc., except for the cyclical part.  When he is depressed/anxious, he goes into that hole where he is hardly reachable.  I know what you are going through.  This has gone on for 5 years now.  For us it is a combination of things, and I think it is for anyone describing what you are talking about.  It isn't just situational - it is situational making it worse, but the person still has depression (or in your case may have bipolar depression).  My DH finally tried a couple different meds and found one that helped (but didn't fix it all because it has multiple causes).  He has been having counseling and couples counseling as well.  We also treated his sleep apnea - which I have to say to everyone - if there is any suspicion of sleep apnea - definitely get that taken care of!!!  If you never go into REM or deep sleep due to small awakenings all night long (like 50 per hour!) you are going to be depressed and have big cognitive/emotional problems  All of those things have helped, but the job still affected him.  However, he has been better able to manage it and start learning how to manage stress better and change his patterns that contribute to his stress, etc.  He never would have been able to do that (change his thinking, learn things, etc.) without sleep apnea tretment and medication first.  Now he is not longer at that job, we ultimately knew that had to happen too, and he is handling that better than he would have prior to all this treatment.

Hope this helps, OP.  By the way, he should see a psychiatrist, which is an MD, to diagnose mild bipolar, or even to treat his depression/anxiety.  Psychologists can only do talk therapy, and bipolar usually needs medication.  Also, bad depression or anxiety often needs medication, and sometimes that is why talk therapy doesn't help at first (can help after meds).  Just mentioned that because some people don't know the difference between psychologists and psychiatrists.  If he is cyclical, you may not want to just try any anti-depressant your family doc gives him, because if he is bipolar that can make it worse sometimes.  Best to let a psychiatrist sort it out.[/quote]

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