Im not dating anyone but I’m ready to. I just don’t know how or if to tell them. I’m always afraid to tell ppl.
I’ve been diagnosed with sz since me and my partner got together. My original diagnosis was bipolar and I was honest about that from the start.
I think being up front about having a serious mental health condition with a new partner is a good way of sorting the wheat from the chaff. Mr biscuit has always been supportive and has helped me stay out of hospital on a couple of occasions.
I dont have a partner, but when im dating i always (at a certain point) tell them i have a sensitivity to psychosis. I think you cant and shouldnt withhold such important info from a partner. I always first give little hints and then tell bit by bit when i feel comfortable enough.
My fiancé is a huge part of my support system. She know my triggers, and has seen me fully psychotic. She accepts me for who I am, illness and all.
I started out just telling her I had a brain thing, and I was a little weird. As time went on I told her about the voices, and the delusions. It evolved organically
When my husband and I were dating, I wasn’t yet diagnosed with schizoaffective or PTSD. I had a lot of delusions at the time but didn’t know they were delusions. I was unstable and all I knew was that I was “different” and had trauma. I first told my husband that I had trauma but didn’t tell him details at first.
As time went on, I told him the details. He caught on from the beginning that I was not completely well in the head, though. I said outlandish things at times that upset him. For example, I said that all people in all of California were sluts. This was a major delusion of mine at the time. But he loved me dearly anyway.
As more time passed, I got more and more ill. We fought a lot when I was completely psychotic and unstable. I was starting fights based on my delusions that he was unfaithful. But he still loved me and stuck through it.
I was finally diagnosed as psychotic when I was 23. We started dating and got married when I was 21. Took a long time to get my diagnosis. But it explained a lot and we both realized I had been psychotic our entire relationship, to varying degrees.
My point in telling you my story is: if they truly care about you, tell them a little at a time and they’ll continue to love you regardless of your mental issues.
As people are posting here in this thread it’s possible to find someone who understands.
I’m very jaded and I have a lot of problems when it comes to dating. From my looks to lack of income at my age. My mental illness is just the cherry on top of a pile of crap.
I’m an exception though, plenty of people find love who have mental illness. It may take a bit longer to find the right one but its completely possible.
The diagnosis came up on the first date with my wife.
I hide nothing.
I am totally exposed:
I am single, schizophrenic, impotent, am off any medications.
I am also a “fitness freak” who exercises many hours every day.
They called my wife in for a meeting when they first told me my diagnosis. So she found out when I did. There were two psychiatrists, a physician assistant and a psychiatric nurse in there. My doctor told me your diagnosis is paranoid schizophrenia.
He might as well have been speaking a foreign language because I had no idea what that was. My wife argued with them. Later my shrink let me read the DSM 4 and I didn’t think I had that at the time.
Yes he does. I met him at the mental health teams walking group.
I told him when we were talking online in the first few weeks. Before we met.
I broke up with the partners in my head romantically recently but they hang around as friends of sort. I’ve never had a partner in reality. The former partners in my head didn’t really care about that as you may imagine.
Wen I was doing online dating I told one or two guys in the first chat… Well not straight away but nearer the end of the chat.
Yes. Of course he knows I have schizophrenia.
My partner knows. But I’ve been friends with them a long time we’ve known each other for about 5 years.
I told them about my conditions about 2 years in. They took it surprisingly well.
I’m glad they except me
But I think it’s definitely important if you’re serious with a partner that you let them know. It’s unhealthy to keep a secret like that in your relationship. Plus it helps them support you
Yes, he knows. His understanding of it is pretty basic, but it’s still important that he knows. I don’t have many symptoms, but when I do have them, it helps that he understands what causes them and how I need to deal with them.
I kinda feel the same way. I don’t feel like I have much to offer. I have no friends either, so that would be awkward to explain why not. Nobody likes a loner.
I wish my romantic lovers accepted me the same way. Lucky you. Wish you the best.
Yeah she nudged me for 3 years to go see a psychiatrist again so I finally did. Very thankful for that. She is supportive and understanding
Yes, my boyfriend knows. He was around when I started getting psychoses for the first time.