My Story: Understanding How Mental Health Affects My Relationships

By Saniya Ghanoui —

EN discusses how her mental health has affected some of the relationships in her life.

Transcript:

OBOS Today: How has mental health affected your relationships?

EN: Um. So sometimes I felt like I was very dependent on the other person. And he would have to, sometimes, would become my therapist, which is something that I personally was not comfortable with because I don’t want to be in a relationship if I am not fully there. But even on like the flip side where I was with someone who had to deal with really heavy mental health issues, it was really hard. And seeing it from the other side it’s like “Ok, so I have to remind you to eat, I have to remind you to do this.” Like sometimes you start feeling like more their caregiver than their significant other. 

OBOS Today: And even with relationships with your parents and stuff, are you having these similar issues or?

EN: Yeah so, my parents were always really supportive of me going to therapy, but they didn’t really understand why. So, when I first started going to therapy, my entire family sat at my psychiatrist’s office and we would get asked all the questions that we needed to and basically it was like, “I can’t tell you anything, if she doesn’t let me.” So that is where I felt this sense of security and a place where I could talk about whatever I wanted. But um, yeah. Going to therapy has definitely made the relationship with my parents better. It helps me calm my emotions and just talk about things without screaming and yelling at them.