Recently, I've been seeing articles all over the internet that discuss why people with mental illnesses are the best people to date. These articles absolutely disgust me. Romanticizing mental illnesses is not only absolutely ridiculous, but it's extremely cruel.
Mental illnesses are not romantic or poetic. People with mental illnesses are not the beautiful and mysterious character in the novels or the books that have been fabricated. They are not helpless people that are begging for someone to come along and 'fix' them. You aren't doing anyone or yourself a favor by seeking out someone with a mental illness to save.
Having a mental illness is hard. It's frustrating, it's physical, and it's different every single day. It's being a prisoner of your own mind and you can't escape. It's something that no one can truly understand unless they have experienced it themselves. To be with someone who is suffering like this, you have to be patient, compassionate, and understanding.
Knowing all of this, it absolutely astounds me that someone would fetish someone else's suffering. There's nothing beautiful about that.
Living with a mental illness makes or breaks a person. You either learn to live with it or crack under the pressure. It brings out the absolute worst and the absolute best out of a person. No matter what, having a mental illness is not the jackpot combination for dating. Not to say that people should stay away from those with mental illnesses. Just stop romanticizing diseases.
