Can Serious Mentally Ill People Get Married?
A review on the complex relationship of marriage and mental disorders.
Keywords:
marriage and mental illness, spousal relationship, pre-marital counselling, post-marital counselling, schizophrenia and marriage, bipolar disorder and marriage, mental illness stigma, mental illness and marital satisfaction, marital adjustment in psychiatric patients, spouse of person with mental illnessAbstract
Society expects each of us to get married, have children, and live as a family. Marriage reflects one's social status and also paves the way for a better life in society. Getting married after reaching a certain age upon attaining adulthood is considered normal. If marriage is delayed, the family is subjected to unnecessary questions from society. This situation causes significant mental stress for the family. Therefore, not only family members but also mental health professionals and doctors have a major role to play in understanding and addressing the challenges faced in the marital lives of individuals with severe mental illnesses. Major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder are considered severe mental illnesses. This article discusses in detail the dilemmas and difficulties the person with severe mental illness and their family face during the process of searching for an alliance, the marital process and post marital life. It also discusses the research based evidence on both the positive and negative impacts of mental illness on marital life and vise versa.
