A potential male partner with a mental illness isn’t a deal-breaker.

As human beings, we are all mentally ill to varying degrees.

That being said, if a man has received a diagnosis that confirms mental illness, this has to be taken seriously.

Do your due diligence to learn more about his mental illness.

It doesn’t matter that he seems normal in his overall temperament and composure.

There are people with mental illness who have stretches of time where they seem totally normal, until their mental illness erupts, out of nowhere.

Keep this in mind, so that you don’t mislead yourself into thinking that his mental illness isn’t severe, given that you are yet to see him act out.

Without keeping this in mind, you are inclined to ignore your common sense, which in turn, permits your emotions to guide your actions.

Learn as much about his brand of mental illness as possible.

This gives you an informed idea about what you are dealing with.

Imagine a scenario where you have chosen to date this guy after a whirlwind romance, where you never observed any troubling signs of his mental illness.

Fast forward to a few months later, and his behavior suddenly changes.

He is not the same guy that courted you so well just a few months ago.

He is now either belligerent, withdrawn, or erratic.

Next thing you know, you are applying all of your energy into getting him out of this funk.

At this stage, you have fallen in love with him.

This means that you are emotionally invested in him and want more than anything to get back to what it was like before this mental episode.

Weeks evolve into months, and it has been a rollercoaster of a time.

The periods of normalcy are less frequent, and the periods where he is having a mental episode are more frequent.

You talk to family and friends about it, but there are no concrete solutions.

All of a sudden, you don’t remember the last time you had a happy moment.

All of your energy in the last few months has been centered on getting him to feel better about himself, and you feel trapped.

It is only a matter of time before the relationship collapses and ends under the weight of his mental illness.

All the time, effort, and emotional energy that you put into the relationship lost forever.

Do you want to be in this predicament?

Do your research on the mental illness that he suffers from.

If the mental illness in question is one that goes for stretches of time without any outward indicators, be cognizant of this.

This keeps you from misleading yourself into thinking that his mental illness isn’t an issue, given that you are yet to see any mental episodes.

Mental illness is manageable.

There are plenty of people with mental illness that you encounter every single day at work, the gym, grocery store, mall, etc., that you wouldn’t know have been diagnosed with a mental illness.

They socialize with people and engage in activities like normal.

This is because they manage their mental illnesses conscientiously.

Do your research.

Confirm that he has spent several years managing his mental illness.

By regularly taking his medication and having regular appointments with his healthcare providers, he has shown a consistent history in managing his mental illness.

This means he has as good a potential to be a good boyfriend to you, as a guy who has never been diagnosed with a mental illness.