Before I explain, I’m not trying to be a diy therapist for my partner, I’m just curious about what approaches are helpful for people in his situation because it’s very unfamiliar to me. I want to be a supportive partner and just don’t know how to start with this.

My partner struggles a LOT with believing that he has control over his life. He’s very much in the mindset that if something isn’t going right, he can’t do anything about it. It can be really frustrating, especially because I tend to be a problem-solver and have a strong internal locus of control, so I often find myself trying to fix the things that are frustrating for him. He struggles with his mental health a lot and I think a large part of it comes from the fact that he doesn’t feel like he’s able to change anything about his circumstances. Sometimes he does get so fed up with something that he makes an attempt to change it, but it’s always something he can’t reasonably expect to change, so then it fails and he gets more frustrated.

I just worry about how that perception of the world and what’s in his control may affect him in the long run, and I don’t know what may help him.