Hi Eric,

I've worked as the community leader of this Web site for over five years so anyone who Googles me would find out about my diagnosis.  In the fall, my memoir, Left of the Dial, will be published by Vantage Point Press.

My take on this, and it is the one I use in my own life, would be to tell the person at the point when you feel you can trust them and want to get intimate with them.  You cannot base a relationship, or a marriage, on a lie.  It takes a lot of negative energy to feed and maintain the lie and live in hiding with something that had a big impact on your life.

For everyday relationships, I don't tell people my diagnosis.  Yet if I met a guy and wanted to get physical and eventually wanted to marry him, I would tell him and risk rejection.

You risk rejection either way.  My take on this, also, is that a person with SZ deserves to be with the guy or woman who will accept that their illness is part of their life.

The best scenario: you're doing well, you take your SZ meds every day as prescribed, so your girlfriend or boyfriend will respect that you're committed to doing what it takes to stay healthy in the relationship.

I suspect that, when you find the right person, it won't be an issue for him or her.  Truly, it wouldn't be an issue as long as you continue to take your medication in order to function well.

If the person has trouble with it even in this scenario, I would say keep looking until you find the guy or woman who is open-minded, loving and won't judge you.

Like I said, it's no secret I have SZ.  Yet, for purposes of employment and housing, you would not tell your employer or the real estate agent that you have SZ.  Romance is a different story.

Regards,

Christina