does anyone have relationship (especially marriage) problems because of schiz? how do you cope and deal with it?
also, who has trouble with their memory because of schiz? and what do you do to help it?
I’m having relationship trouble a lot. family says I have memory loss over a long time. is it a defect or just part of the illness?
I think that living with a mentally ill person poses challenges for everyone involved.
I’m not married but I have been in a relationship with my spouse for 23 years. he is mentally very healthy, has always been. I have schizophrenia.
he has known me before and after schizophrenia. when I was ill there were many problems in our relationship, but that was because I was psychotic and depressed and self harmed myself every day. it was very hard for him. now that I have recovered and am doing fine, our relationship is pretty good. I have a lot of issues though, I get extreme dissociation and my cognitive skills and memory is impaired significantly. it is getting embarrassing that I can’t remember anything.
I believe heavy antipsychotic medication affected my memory. and schizophrenia in general affects memory. cognitive symptoms are very hard for me personally.
but holding a relationship with schizophrenia is not easy. I have had hard times in my relationship and better times as well. I am very glad that my spouse has been so patient and understanding with me. I sure haven’t been the easiest girlfriend.
I was 16 when we met and now 23 years later I am 39, next month is by birthday. I have grown into an adult with my spouse, and I am lucky to have a person supporting me when growing up hasn’t been the easiest thing.
I think that my sza is challenging for my SO but mostly because of indirect issues. For example, I struggle with hygiene. In fact, I don’t take care of myself in general. SO handles everything from cooking to washing dishes and doing laundry. I feel terrible that he’s doing everything, but I just don’t take care of things. I think this has the potential to be a serious source of strife. If I did even one thing a day, however small, I feel like my spouse would be happier.
Edited to add: My spouse has never complained or made me feel bad. Potential resentment/strife is my own worry, but he doesn’t make me feel that way.