My ex boyfriend has somatic symptom disorder

[feilig08]

Hello! My ex boyfriend was diagnosed with somatic symptom disorder and depression. He is experiencing different symptoms for almost two years and this started a month after we started our relationship. Can our relationship be the cause of his SSD? I did nothing but support him and give the attention and encouragement to get better, but he says that thinking at me and loving me makes him this way. Nothing bad happened between us. He has this stomach pain that never disappears and many other depression symptoms. He started cognitive behavioral therapy so we broke up for 2 month because that was suggested to him but he is not getting better. Can I be the cause of his suffering? Or what can cause this? Did anyone experienced this and how did you get through this?

[JoeTheLion]

Hi @feilig08,

Welcome to the forums and thanks for sharing your story. 

It sounds like you have been through so much with your ex and everything you have done was with good intention. I think you are being unfair on yourself if you are blaming yourself for his condition. I hope that you are getting some support. If not, Relationships Australia are a great service to link into and are very affordable.

https://www.relationships.org.au

All the best

Joe The Lion

[feilig08]

@JoeTheLion Thank you for your reply. Yes, we have been through a lot, and now I suffer because I want him back, not now, but when he will get better and when he wants to. But I don`t know if he will want this anymore.

[Former-Member]

Sounds like a really painful experience @feilig08. I wonder whether you've thought about getting your own face to face counselling to support you to make sense of things. How are you going with it all?