Understanding relationships and mental illness
From the book – Chapter 34: Relationships and Communication
Relationships and mental illness
Mental health conditions can strain relationships, and relationships can help people recover. Couples and families often benefit from:
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Learning about the condition
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Clear communication about needs
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Shared care plans
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Family therapy or couples counselling
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Time for the supporter to rest and be supported
Read the full chapter – Chapter 34: Relationships and Communication
Stories from real life
- Three Hundred Contacts and Nobody to Call – Lena, twenty-six, moved to Toronto for a software job. She had hundreds of contacts on her phone and two video calls a week with her family…
- Three Words He Always Said – Carla and Diego, married eleven years in Mexico City, had the same argument most nights. She would say, 'You never help. You are just like your…
- I Am Happy to Talk, But Not Like This – Thabo, thirty-three, from Johannesburg, said yes to everything. He covered shifts for colleagues, lent money to his cousin who never returned it, and answered his mother's…
- She Stopped Seeing Her Friends – Ruth, twenty-eight, from Glasgow, met Callum at a party, and he was charming. After a year she noticed small changes. He checked her phone, was angry…
More on this topic: Helping a loved one with mental illness – family and relationships
More questions
- Understanding social media and connection – relationships and communication
- Which of these helps most in listening?
- What is true: an assertive message usually…?
- What is true: A healthy boundary is…?
- What is true: loneliness differs from being alone because loneliness is…?
- Which is a serious warning sign of an unhealthy relationship?
- Three Hundred Contacts and Nobody to Call – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- Three Words He Always Said – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- I Am Happy to Talk, But Not Like This – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- She Stopped Seeing Her Friends – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- How to help a family member who is struggling
- How to set healthy boundaries in relationships