There are so many stereotypes about mental illness, so many times people speak words filled with ignorance and stupidity regarding mental illness.
Loving a woman who is fighting her mental disorder every single day, from the moment she wakes up until the middle of the night, is true bliss. Because you are in love with a gem, stronger than any other.
You are the man holding the power to free this world from stereotypes but know that she should be your biggest priority.
If she is fighting depression, her whole world is slower, there is no need for you to tell her to ‘look on the bright side’ because she tried. Believe me, she did.
Anxiety is what makes her forget to breathe. At times her thoughts are so loud that they consume everything she is and turn her into a wreck.
Bipolar disorder? You will lose her. At times you will not even recognize her. But never forget that this is the same woman you fell in love with.
No matter whether she is fighting one of these or any other mental illness, you have to always remember that there will be good and bad days.
Don’t let the bad days convince you that she is not worth the fight. Those days will be hard for you to handle because you will look at a woman you do not recognize, you will look at her and see something much darker.
Don’t let the bad days influence your love. I know that you will be suffering as well but not even nearly as much as she is, believe me.
The good days are what you should be focused on, those are the days when you will have her all to yourself.
Take her places, show her how much you love and appreciate her by simply standing by her side while she is enjoying a view of the world.
But don’t be fooled. Maybe she will have more of those bad days, so if you are not man enough, not brave enough, don’t break her heart unnecessarily.
Don’t even try to come into her world to destroy it even more. If you have a heart, know that she will want you and need you, but only if you are willing to be all hers.
She might not be able to ever conquer this monster. The medication and meditation and all the positive thinking in the world might not help her.
And you have to be aware of that.
When you feel like you are losing her, when you feel like you are losing the woman you have fallen in love with, remember that she is much more than what you see.
You might be looking at a woman shaking, shivering and stuttering, but remember the first time you saw her, when she was the most amazing woman you had laid your eyes on.
To love a woman fighting mental illness means to go through all of that together and never forgetting who she truly is.
Never make the mistake of letting her mental illness define her. She is that happy woman who smiled at you just minutes before she crashed, she is that ‘I love you’ that she whispers when she falls asleep in your lap.
Forget about circumstance, forget about the lost look on her face or the way she forgot to brush her teeth this morning.
Instead, remember the fighter in her and the strength she has to live with this every single day.
Just think that most of us wouldn’t even be able to go through all of those things on a daily basis.
To love a woman fighting mental illness is to take on a challenge and to live every single day in fear that you might lose her.
But she will always come back to you.
Never give up on her simply because you are exhausted. Always remember that she is probably more exhausted than you will ever be.
The voices in your head are nothing compared to the screams inside her mind, telling her that she isn’t deserving of anything.
That is why you have to stay by her side.
To love a woman like this is to never get bored, to always have something to talk about and to never be ashamed of your decision.
So love her just the way she deserves, for no one is more pure than she is. No one is more in need of love than she is.
Be the one to show her that there are still people out there who care about her and everything that she is going through.
To love a woman fighting mental illness is always a fight. But if you are fighting together, it gets a little bit easier.
