Relationships and Schizophrenia

Lauren, who lives with schizoaffective disorder, sits down with her partner Rob to answer questions about relationships and schizophrenia/mental illness.

Timestamps:
02:08 - 1. When and how do you disclose your illness to your date/partner?
04:42 - 2. What helped you to feel safe opening up about your diagnosis?
06:44 - 3. Has someone ever broken up with you after finding out about your diagnosis?
08:19 - 4. How do you share about your illness with your in-laws?
10:23 - 5. How do you disclose about past suicide attempts?
13:13 - 6. How do you support a partner through hallucinations, psychosis, and intense depression?
17:57 - 7. How do you know when it’s time to intervene when your partner is showing symptoms?
23:48 - 8. How do you open up to your partner without making them feel uncomfortable or worried?
26:22 - 9. How do you not take your partner’s episode personally?
29:14 - 10. How do you encourage your partner to seek their own support while they care for you and your mental illness?
30:40 - 11. What do healthy boundaries look like when caring for someone? What are healthy boundaries with considering my partners mental health?
33:44 - 12. Can the stress of romantic relationships bring on symptoms?
36:04 - 13. How do you tell the difference between your mental illness and your own thoughts in a relationship?
38:00 - 14. If both of you have mental health diagnoses and are both struggling at the same time, how best do you deal with this?
41:05 - 15. How do you navigate paranoia around your partner?
44:34 - 16. How does Rob feel about you having schizophrenia?
47:29 - 17. How do you get over the feeling of feeling like no one will love you due to your mental illness?

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