First dates are exciting and can set your nerves on fire, but when you suffer from mental illness, the worry over how to break the news of your condition can be troubling. Do you just get it over with and risk running the date off before appetizers are through, or do you wait and risk the other person feeling misled?
"'My name is Molly,'" writes Molly Pohlig. "'I'm 36, single, live in Brooklyn, and work in publishing. I love gloomy Victorian novels, obscure Korean horror films, Premier League soccer, and knitting. I'm 5-foot-5, slim, with brown hair and brown eyes. I am looking for a serious relationship. I suffer from mental illness.'
"That dating profile is going to get me nowhere."
The problem can be stereotypes perpetuated on television and in movies. Some people don't know anyone who is open about their mental illness. "All they've seen are TV shows, and they think that if you say, 'I have a mental illness,' it means you're a psychopath," Pohlig said, according to MSN.
The truth is: one in 17 Americans (13.6 million people) live with a mental illness like depression, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. "Most people with mental disorders are undiagnosed and untreated, so many are already in significant relationships without either partner knowing," said Bradley Erford, a past president of the American Counseling Association and professor in the school counseling program at Loyola University in Maryland, according to MSN.
If you are receiving treatment for your illness, you shouldn't worry about being able to sustain a healthy relationship, Erford said.
So, how do you date with mental illness?