Topic Tuesday // Sexuality and intimacy // Tues 24 July, 7pm AEDT

[BlueBay]

Hi @Former-Member im struggling today. And I struggling hugely with intimacy and sexuality. I’ll love to be on here fir as long as I can. 

[Former-Member]

I think that's more a personal choice based on your own needs and experiences @Shakeelah25.  But you're not alone in wondering that.  After the conference presentation last year a member of the audience stood up to say that she felt that she had to choose between a relationship or her health.  Because a new relationship was so destabilising (often for those without an illness to start with too) that it made maintaining her health too hard.  She was really sad about this situation and so she should be.  That's just a terrible choice to have to make.  Particularly as a good relationship can be very helpful to mental health.

Is this a choice you feel that you have to make?

[gopals1]

My experience was when it was good it was really good , but when it was bad it was really bad . 

[Shakeelah25]

the impact of the illness for me. I get traumatised when I think about getting close to anyone. Its difficult because I want to wait until marriage but I still want a non-sexual physical relationship. No idea how to overcome this

[Former-Member]

Great to have you here @BlueBay.

[Former-Member]

Yes @gopals1, you may have summed up a thousand pages of research in one line 🙂

[Former-Member]

Mr D put on weight due to medication but it has not affected our intimacy. 

[BlueBay]

@Former-Member I lack confidence and find that my self worth is thrown out the window because of my mental health. Also I think going through menopause doesn’t help either. There’s not much connection in this area at the moment. 

[Shaz51]

For my husband who has bipolar 2 it is confidence, impact of medication and past situation as a devoice @Former-Member has all played a part in it 

[Former-Member]

Hi @Former-Member, thanks for joining us.  Medication was also a huge theme coming out of the research as they can reduce desire and the ability to orgasm. So there was often a need to experiment with the right one and the right regime to try to minimise the impact. 

I've so sorry to hear that this was forced in your situation.  It sounds kind of barbaric given what we know about the side effects.