In the 2023 StoryCorp, “2 members of a support group for people living with mental illness find love in Utah”, organized by Julia Kirschenbaum and Jo Corona, vividly illustrates what it is like having a partner with a mental illness. Julianne Larsen and Mar Fenix Nauta met about fifteen years ago when Julianne decided to attend a support group for individuals living with mental illness, in Logan, Utah. The two describe their intense initial attraction to each other after their exchange of a passionate kiss. Larsen and Nauta fondly credited their kiss as the starting point to their now, thirteen-year relationship. Despite their ever-so-loving relationship, they both have noted the struggles it has come with, due to their mental illness. Larsen …show more content…
Individuals with Schizophrenia often experience symptoms that impair their day to day life, including: having delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking and speech, and withdrawal from daily life, interests, and social relationships. Larsen reveals that her biggest struggle with schizophrenia is her auditory and visual hallucinations. She stated that initially she felt extremely anxious regarding her decision to inform Nauta about her hallucinations, however Nauta fully accepted her, and even exclaimed that Larsen’s hallucinations simply felt like another fact to her, not a burden. Nauta struggles with Bipolar Disorder. Bipolar disorder causation has been credited to traumatic experiences in one's life and other environmental factors, genetics, and dopamine. Bipolar disorder causes an individual to experience intense states of mania, which is a captivating state of high energy, and clinical …show more content…
Oftentimes, when one experiences mania, they have an extreme distrust in all members of their life, as they reside in an altered state of consciousness. This is applicable to Farrell’s experience. Farrell felt paranoia in regards to everyone in her life. One night, she had visual and auditory hallucinations, and thought that she saw the cross of Christ and God himself, urging her to swim in a freezing lake. Farrell was saved by emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and then checked into the psychiatric ward, where she described her experience as horrid; she was micromanaged and suffocated. After Farell was discharged, she regained her independence. She had found her own home and was able to meet the love of her life and now husband, Craig Farrell. They described their first interaction as “sincere”, and have been in love ever since. Farrell revealed initially, she felt fearful revealing to Craig that she suffered from schizophrenia. The two faced tough times together, and described some of their nights being filled with tears, and strong