Mental Illness & Love: The Biggest Threat To Marriage & The Best Path To Recovery

NEW YORK, Aug. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A survey of mental health professionals conducted by YourTango, the digital leader in love and relationships, sheds light on which mental illness is the biggest problem for couples.

Which illnesses plague marriages most?  Addiction (sex, drugs and alcohol) tops the list, followed by mood disorders (depression, bi-polar disorder) and personality disorders (narcissism, borderline).  

What finally gets someone into treatment? 54% agree a spouse's ultimatum or family intervention is the most effective tool for kick-starting recovery.

YourTango Experts offer this advice for healing:

• Recovery takes time: 80% agree it takes up to 2 years to understand the full scope a mental health illness has on a marriage.
• The healthy spouse needs help too: 86% agree it's "equally as important" to address the healthy partner's feelings as it is to treat the illness.
• Be a team: 78% of experts agree that for a marriage to survive, the couple must work on healing together.

"The red flag here is that seemingly common issues like depression and addiction can have such a profoundly negative effect on marriages," says Melanie Gorman, SR VP of YourTango Experts, "but if you follow the suggestions offered, 75% of experts believe that a mental illness can actually make a marriage stronger."

Additional survey findings:

• As many as 30% of married couples struggle with mental illness.
• 62% agree that healthy spouses can "mirror" unhealthy symptoms.

YourTango is offering help with their upcoming content-driven campaign, Living & Loving With Mental Illness, from August 26 – September 6. Those seeking further guidance can browse YourTango's extensive network of mental health professionals who offer a wide range of services.

An open Q&A session with mental health professionals is scheduled for August 29 from 3-4PM at Facebook.com/YourTango.

About YourTango:
YourTango helps users live their best love lives by offering award-winning content to over 8 million unique visitors per month. Topics explored include everything from celebrity sex, love quotes and funny quotes, great sex positions and ways to say I love you.

YourTango Experts provide authoritative dating coach, marriage educator, relationship expert and sex educator advice, plus more.

Research methodology: Conducted on SurveyMonkey.com, we polled 107 mental health professionals between July 26, 2013 and August 21 2013.

SOURCE YourTango