Home

View all stories

Challenges with Relationships

"I find dating challenging because I have a lot of anxiety to begin with and I have a lot of paranoia so I find it really hard to trust people"

Mike

Transcript

I think I may have to work harder at relationships, definitely in disclosing about my illness but also in just wrapping my head around being in a relationship.

If I meet somebody new, schizophrenia will come up inevitably, when they ask about what I do for a living. I tell them I write about mental illness and mental health and they'll say, "How did you get into that?" and I'll have to explain that I either had a breakdown in college or something like that, and that can either make or break a friendship real quick. It can revolt people, so you have to be careful who you talk to.

I find dating challenging because I have a lot of anxiety to begin with and I have a lot of paranoia so I find it really hard to trust people, so getting past that point of trust is a pretty big thing for me and it doesn't happen a lot. And then of course there's disclosing your illness to a new person. You don't know how they'll react, so you don't know when to say that you have mental illness, on the first date or after a month. It's a book that hasn't been written yet.

Comments

Comments (1)
margaret
January 4th, 2021 7:24pm

My son has symptoms of schizophrenia. He doesnt accept he has a disease and blames people for hearing voices. He is highly educated and resigned from the job as a financial analyst 5 years ago. After that, he relocated to different states thinking his problem will be resolved. He applied for labor jobs but has his CPA. He lives home now and doesn't want to hear about going to a doctor. Any suggestions how to convince him that he has an illness and he needs help?

Add new comment
Your screen name will be shown with your comment.
Your email address will not be displayed publicly and will not be shared with anyone.

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.

Thank you for sharing! Your comment has been received.

Your comment has been submitted, and may be subject to moderation.

Submit another comment
View all stories