Should you disclose your mental illness on a job application? When dealing with our mental illnesses, it can be difficult to open up even to our friends and families. Those relationships are typically strong enough to withstand the disclosure of issues that we are having and things we need to help fight them. So what do we do with our professional relationships when we have a mental health disability? When should you disclose your mental illness to an employer?

A healthy relationship with yourself affects your happiness. Only a few short years ago, I was by most definitions incredibly successful. I was making a good living and had achieved my goal of running my own non-profit organization. But I wasn't happy. Since then, I learned that only the relationship with yourself truly matters.

When did you know you were dating someone with a mental illness? It may have started like this: You met the most amazing person. You have been on a few dates, and the chemistry is there. It's exciting, and it's going so well. And then one night you have a deep conversation and you learn that you're dating someone with a mental illness. What now?

Your struggle with mental illness can be a very hard topic to bring up. Even after years of practice, I struggle with exactly when to talk to people about my mental illness. Here are some lessons I have learned, and some tactics that have worked for me when considering bringing up my struggle with mental illness.

Balancing one's emotional needs with the responsibilities of any kind of relationship is one of the hardest aspects of being someone with a mental illness in a positive relationship. Where is the tipping point where one takes too heavy a toll on the other? How do you deal with emotional needs in your relationship?

My name is Jonathan Berg, and I am excited to be able to share my story with you and to join the Relationships and Mental Illness team here at HealthyPlace. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder type II when I was 14. From the start, I hid it from everyone, including my closest friends and my parents. I was afraid that people would think I was crazy. I am sad to say that this fear lasted for more than 20 years.

Many Americans are scared to talk to a supervisor about mental illness or disclose their mental health condition at work to anyone for fear of career damage or termination. Suffering in silence, ironically, means your work may also suffer. Poor performance leads to intensified anxiety and other symptoms as you worry about your job security and assignment quality. So what do you do? How do you talk to a supervisor about mental illness?

My name is Mikaela Mariner and I am the new coauthor of Relationships and Mental Illness. I am here to speak on the reality of mental illness and the importance of relationships. With only a few years of recognizing my anxiety and depression, my biggest takeaway thus far is my ability to identify when my mind is trying to take over. Being married to my best friend has been a huge help for me and my primary inspiration to help others. You could say I’ve always been a writer but it wasn’t until recently that I learned exactly what it is I’m supposed to be using my craft for; realizing how to utilize it was a monumental step in my journey.

Supporting your non-anxious spouse is important. Living with anxiety is a daily challenge for relationships, including marriage. Maneuvering through simple situations can lead to intense worry that distracts from the joy of a wonderful marriage. But like clockwork, your non-anxious spouse rises to the challenge with unwavering support. But what happens when tragedy strikes and the anxious spouse must become the rock? How can you support your spouse when you have anxiety?

I’m Brittany Clements and I’m thrilled to join the Relationships and Mental Illness blog at HealthyPlace. While I wasn’t officially diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (our generalized anxiety disorder test) until my late teens, it’s a condition I’ve undoubtedly struggled with my entire life, exacerbated by an accompanying diagnosis of epilepsy.