DATING
Tips For Dating When You're Working On Your Mental Health
By STEPHANIE HARPER
Always Prioritize Yourself
Prioritize yourself when dating by considering your free time and interests before agreeing to plans, avoiding date-night environments that aren’t good for your mental health, and setting clear boundaries early and often. Doing so will protect you from others who might not be on the same page and help you hold firm to your belief system.
Never Cancel Therapy
If you’re serious about working on your mental health, never cancel a therapy session for date plans. Someone who truly cares about you and wants to be in your life for the long haul will understand if you have to prioritize therapy sessions over random dates.
Choose Patient Partners
Someone who's truly patient is slow to anger, thoughtful before they speak, and accepting of various issues without getting annoyed. You want to feel completely loved, not tolerated, by the person you’re dating, especially through the trials and tribulations of your mental health journey.
Pick Compassionate Partners
The most loving thing you can do for yourself on your mental health journey is to choose partners who understand the importance of compassion and are able to show sympathy and concern for others. Compassionate people will never distance themselves from you when you open up with vulnerability and emotion.
Don’t Unload Trauma
You may start a relationship with someone amazing, but that doesn’t mean you should feel pressured to unload your trauma on them at the beginning of the romance. If this is someone who is sticking around for a while, you can take your time to open up; unloading trauma early may make them feel overwhelmed and uneasy.