What happens when your spouse becomes mentally ill and your life starts to crumble around you? What happens when the life you thought you had isn’t there, and you have to adjust to a new life that includes daily panic, psychosis, lack of funds, no health insurance, lack of sleep, lack of contact with emotionally stable people, depression, anxiety, and, just occasionally, a loss of utilities?
My marriage to Stew Young was full of firsts. My first visit to a pawn shop. My first instance of total financial collapse. My first up close look at psychosis and cutting and hallucinations.
It wasn’t all bad though. We had good times. We laughed when things were bad. And through it all, I had a friend I could count on to try to help, even if he was incapable of getting out of bed some days. Okay, so he broke my heart. It happens. We learned to navigate his mental illness together, and I learned flexibility of a sort I’d never had to consider before. He came first, and all I wanted to do was save him, even once we’d dissolved the marriage, because he was first of all my friend, and would always be my friend.
An Uncommon Friendship is our story through the worst of times. In it, Stew tells, in his own words, what it was like to try to find a path back to mental wellness when all was dark. And I tell of my journey with him.
The book is in progress.
If you have a mental illness, or if you know someone with mental illness, know that there is hope.
