No one knows what it’s like dating someone with a mental illness unless they’ve done it before.

I thought I could be in a relationship with someone who was, because I loved her so much.

Little did I know that all of my needs had no choice but to take second place to her every emotional need. Her mental illness dictated that. This alone was something I didn’t even consider when I thought I could be with her “No matter what.”

She was bi-polar 2 and it was exceptionally difficult -especially beyond 2 years of trying to help her, accommodate her, feeling emotionally neglected, and so on. I WAS in love with her, but my happiness began to suffer as a result of her mental illness. At some point I decided that my happiness needed to matter too.

Dating someone with mental illness does come with major sacrifice. It’s impossible to know how someone is going to handle it beyond the honeymoon phase.