Reflection Paper On Mental Illness

After reading through the “Our Healthy Minds website”, I was left with a variety of thoughts and questions on the topic. The question I decided to pursue for my final thought paper was: “Why is it that you feel embarrassed to express to a potential dating partner that you have/or have previously suffered from mental illness?” This question is addressing stigmatization around mental illness, but also touches on the varying reasons as to why support is such a vital component within a relationship.
I think that there are a variety of different ways that we can go about answering as to why people are hesitant to express to a “potential mate” their mental health situation. Firstly, I think that this really has so much to do with the ongoing stigma

It’s easy to think that they may choose not to continue with the relationship once they find out, thinking things like: “they’ll dump me once they know”. In reality though, if this was true, we need to begin analyzing whether or not this is the relationship you want to be in. We have learned throughout this course a variety of different relationship styles, what the research shows working, and also what the research shows as potential reason couples don’t stay together. Reading through this website we are exposed to the fact that dealing with mental illness in intimate relationships can be extremely difficult and I do think—to an extent—it is only normal that your potential partners thoughts would begin thinking about these potential trials. Support in these situations is crucial, and I believe that being upfront and honest from the beginning will allow for your partner to respond in a way in which you will either choose to continue together, supporting and encouraging each other or

I found this website to be very supportive and empathetic. The section of “You and Your Family” in which we were assigned to specifically look at seemed to discuss mental illness and how it affects not only the person experiencing the illness but also everyone around them. I found the vignette of Suzanne and Charles to be particularly helpful and I liked the scenario that was portrayed. This example showed that it isn’t always easy to consider why mental illness is happening and that family members can experience a variety of emotions. I found this example to be relatable to my questions and thoughts surrounding it and I also feel as though it helped to get the point across that mental illness is something that needs to be understood by all the individuals involved in the person that is suffering with mental illness. Even though I didn’t find the website particularly helpful in offering answers, they did do a good job at providing a variety of different resources for a person reading through this website to further continue their research. By “not offering answers” I mean that I found the website to be oriented around specific facts about mental illness and how it affects everyone, not necessarily ways to go about combatting the situation in the most effective manner. That being said, their tips on how to