An expert answers one of the most common questions people ask on Google. Is it possible to live love, regardless of a mental condition?
Love life can be complicated for anyone. Meeting someone, feeling attraction, establishing a romantic connection and sharing expectations about what you want within the relationship is not easy. Yes to this Add to that the presence of a severe mental health condition, the picture can become a little more complicated; However, this does not mean that it is impossible.
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There is still a lot of ignorance surrounding these types of conditions, which leads us to stigmatize the people who live with them and assume that they cannot, and even that they should not do certain things that are everyday for the rest.
The reality is that, for many people with severe mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, the Having the opportunity to lead a lifestyle as normal as that of any other person is highly therapeutic and helps a lot to control your symptoms, as well as prevent the deterioration of the condition.
This is precisely the case of Carolina, a young Colombian woman, who a few years ago began to present symptoms that finally led her to receive a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder. This disorder is characterized because people living with it present a combination of schizophrenia symptoms (such as hallucinations or delusions) and mood disorder symptoms (such as depression or mania) Because of this, it may be difficult for some people to find, establish, and maintain a partner, but this is not the case for everyone. For many people living with this condition, a relationship can be very valuable..
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The latter is the case of Carolina. For her, as well as for many other people diagnosed with schizophrenia, Loneliness can be a difficult situation to deal with, as it can worsen mood symptoms and even hallucinations.. For this reason, having a relationship is very important, it can help improve adherence to treatment, put into practice social skills such as communication and assertiveness and combat moments of psychosis and hallucinations.
For Carolina, who presents auditory hallucinations with voices that tell her that she is not valuable enough to receive love and that attack her self-esteem, Having a person who loves her and who decides to share his life with her every day is a constant reminder that reality is very different from what the hallucinations claim and that she is a valuable person deserving of love and respect.
This coincides precisely with the recommendations offered by the Mayo Clinic for the management of these conditions; have a close support network that cares and, actively, is linked to the person’s care process, It helps preserve social skills, reduce isolation and manage psychotic symptoms.
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Now, this condition is not the only one that can benefit from the presence of a good support network and, particularly, a partner. In general, it has been shown that social support is essential for the management of any mental condition and this is also confirmed by Carolina’s testimony., since your partner has a diagnosis of depression and anxiety. In his words, The most difficult thing is knowing that both can have crises, but at the same time this is what helps them in the midst of problems, being there for each other.
They both tell us; in addition to One of the most valuable things they have is knowing that their partner understands them, does not judge them and knows that crises are not a whim or a “show”, but rather they are real moments of great pain., but they can be overcome with proper care.
It is precisely this empathy that helps them build, not only mutual care strategies, but a solid relationship.
So, back to the question at the beginning. What happens when a person with schizophrenia falls in love? For all people the experience is not the same, some do not feel comfortable establishing romantic relationships, but for others, as is the case with Carolina, it is something that can become be very valuable and when they fall in love, they find an important support network that helps them cope with their condition.