r/depressionmeals • u/PaleGh0stface666 • 3h ago
having a roommate is insanely draining sometimes
don't get me wrong, living with my (24) best friend of ten years is something that ive dreamt of doing since i met him (25). this is absolutely nothing against him - he is an outstanding guy and im very thankful that he gave me a home when my own was getting too rough. but fuck, i wish someone had warned me about how draining it is sometimes for someone with mental illness.
i work 4 days a week, which i know isn't much, but as someone with depression, autism, anxiety, and bpd, i am so prone to emotional burnout it's not even funny. most of the time when i get home from work, i'm absolutely exhausted from masking all day and i end up just being absolutely fucking miserable to be around - mood swings like crazy, physical and mental exhaustion, easy irritability, etc etc.
i literally don't even get ten seconds alone in my room to decompress before he's already coming in bc he wants to hang out and ask me a shit ton of questions. don't get me wrong, i deeply appreciate someone actually caring about how my day went, since i don't get asked often, but on nights after work i am quite literally in no mood to talk. and the worst part is it's hard for me to convey that to him because i don't want to accidentally snap and upset him because i really love him and care about him a lot. but god, just the sound of other human voices when i'm having an episode makes me want to scream. again, nothing against him.
and then he starts being all funny and jokey and when i don't have the energy to *give* him that same energy i feel like an absolutely dogshit friend. humor is his way of trying to make things better but it doesn't work on me. my way of coping is literally just wanting to be alone in my room and lay in the dark and silence, which i know isn't healthy, but it's just how i am. he has expressed annoyance in the past with me not reciprocating that energy sometimes and i do understand where he's coming from but at the same time he knows more about my plethora of mental illnesses than anyone else does so i thought he'd understand. and then when i try to explain to him how im feeling, there always *has* to be a reason for it. he *has* to know a reason why im feeling this way, but there literally just isn't one sometimes and then he tries to create one for me.
i know this entire essay probably makes me a horrible person, and i wouldn't blame you if you thought so, but i just needed to get this out there. i love my roommate sm man he's such an awesome friend and he's been there for me when i needed it most but god sometimes having a roommate is exhausting - not because of anything he's done, but because of my own shit that nobody in the house is equipped to deal with.