Understanding Anxiety & Depression in Women?

I am not being selfish. I want to understand both Anxiety & Depression in women. My girlfriend of 4 years suffers from both. I knew this going into the relationship and until about a year ago she was getting better.
When I say Anxiety I mean - she will not drive a vehicle, she will not eat in public, go to the movies, or do any activity where strangers will be watching her. She has a few close friends and if it involves only friends and / or family she will be there (i.e. b-day party, graduation, etc....).
As for the depression, she won't leave the house, she has a terrible self view of her self. I find her the most beautiful woman in the world. She is 5 foor 4 105 pounds and points out "how fat she is" or "her mole" or "her lack of boobs" and is always down on her self.
Since about a year ago we have become un-intimate and very "friend" like. It is stressful for me because I hate seeing her like this. I want her to feel better and it just isn't happening-any advice?

She needs to get help.. If this is a pre-existing situation then she is probably quite aware that she has deteriorated but most likely just doesn't care. That's the shitty thing with depression because you honestly just want to hide from the world and avoid the responsibility of fixing what's wrong, maybe she doesn't even know what the real issue is and most likely doesn't believe that anything will help anyway, which isn't true.

Get a referral from her GP and get her into proper psychiatric care, at least then she won't just be fobbed off with medication but no treatment. You need to ask the hard questions - is she contemplating suicide, does she have a suicide plan. If the answers are yes, this becomes an emergency situation and she needs to see a doctor asap. Having a plan is classified as less than 24 hours to live as the patient has already made a deal with themselves which could be activated at any time given a crisis situation.

Beware of getting complacent and just accepting a slow spiral down as normal.. It's better to deal with it early rather than wait for a crisis.

Good luck with it all - it's a really hard thing to live with and extremely hard on the support network. Keep focussed on the light at the end of the tunnel

youre a sweet guy...tell her how you feel about her, what you think about her. be her cheerleader in the public, show her that it doesnt matter what other ppl think. maybe you can take her out on a date to the park and have a picnic that would be a start to break down her anxiety of eating out in public. start with little things to break down her anxiety and depression

Anxiety and Depression are things she can't control. I'm sure if you asked her, she'd give anything to not feel the way she does. Just keep supporting her as you have. Convince her to get in touch with her doctor. I'm assuming she has been on medications for these disorders, and if she was getting better and is now worse, she may need different meds or a higher dosage. Good luck, and great job so far!

I also suffer from anxiety depression and migraines. You sound like you are really supportive which is just what she needs. Trust me she does not want to be like this, she would love to be normal. I would give anything not to suffer from this. My husband is not supportive most of the time and it makes it worse. I just lost my job of 13 years which has made it so much worse. The doctor has increased my medicine but no help so far. I cry everyday wanting the pain to go away. Just please be there for her and listen to her. She has to have someone she can count on that will listen and love her anyway. Try to get her to the doctor, they may need to change her medicine. I have had to change I don't know how many times. Hope everything turns out good.

PIP,

This is much more than anxiety and depression, I think there are some serious issues here. Has she ever been seen by a mental health professional?
If she has not, I would ask her to go with you to see one, and soon. Whatever issue or issues that are affecting her clearly are not getting any better, doing nothing for the problem.

The problem is having a severe impact on her life. She is not enjoying life and, I dare say, not enjoying a relationship with you. These are symptoms of a large problem or problems.

She does have to want to get help too, so trying to trick or drag her to get help is not going to work. Thread lightly, suggest things like going to see her regular doctor, going to see a counselor, but go easy.

if she is that bad off, can you talk her into seeing a doctor, it sounds like she is sinking deeper into depression, you need not to be afraid to ask her is she feels suicidal, having someone ask that question actually is known to help the suicidal person feel better, knowing that someone has finally read their symptoms correctly--I am afraid you have bitten off quite a hunk, and you may find it hard to chew for the rest of your life..she needs to get into behavioral therapy and even possibly on medicine--in fact most likely on the medicine
good luck..you'll probably need it, she sounds bad off