Hello I am a 31 years old wife and mother. I am married to a schizophrenic and have been for six years. I knew he was mentally ill when we married. His condition was not that bad when we got married. He has gotten worse as time goes on. He frequently relapses and stops taking his medication and in the six years we have been married he has been in and out of mental hospitals for emergency care. I want to say that mental patients are human beings too. They want to live like the rest of us they just lack a chimcal in their brain. I won't go in to the technical details as they get complicated and depressing. I have done several educational courses to try and understand the disease better. Life is a merry go round. Some days are good and some days are bad. I find the depression is the hardest factor to deal with. When he has manic episodes I tend to deal with them much easier. I am glad to have found this website and have some support. Living with mental illness can be very exhausting both mentally and physically. I have twins who keep me busy and they find their fathers illness hard but they muddle on through.  They are three years old and don't often understand why daddy is ill or tired or grumpy. I could not picture life without my husband. Sure I will never have the norm. who is to say what is normal anyway. I believe that you have to stay strong be prepared every day is never the same. Pray and believe that life can and will be better. There is medication and with support love and family members and hope. Life can change. I hope that my story will help others to keep on loving and supporting their menatlly ill loved ones. Life is beautfiul. When I see my husband smile back at me and the warmth on his face. I feel so alive as I am so lucky to be blessed with this special human being. Remember we are all only human.