by Xavior Chaos

Created on: May 18, 2009   Last Updated: May 19, 2009

Mental illness, and marriage... Interesting combination. "Can people with a mental illness successfully marry?" The answer can be found without much effort, however it requires another question to be asked........ "Can people without a mental illness successfully marry?"

The answer to both questions is the same. Yes.

Almost anyone can get married, the true test is whether a couple can honor the age old "until death do us part" vow. Getting married is only the first step, staying married requires much more sacrifice. The rise in divorce rates in the United States should speak for itself. People like to channel surf, and I don't mean with their remote controls..... They do it with their lives.

People jump from "The Dating Game" (where they meet the "love of their lives) ", to "The Newly Weds" (after a brief courtship), to "Married with Children" (where they realize their "dream" isn't quite what was advertised) to "Cheaters" (when they think "the grass is greener on the other side") to "Divorce Court" (where they air out their "dirty laundry" and hope to be awarded the house, the car, the kids, and the dog.) Forgive the run-on, but it was necessary in order to show you how fast the chain of events occur. Hang on...... Did I say "the dog"? I don't want the dog!

Marriage used to be the cornerstone of American life. The very heart of the American dream. Now it seems that the word has less meaning. Kind of like the word "love", which is tossed around like a water balloon at a summer barbecue.

The bottom line is that anyone can get married. The mentally ill should be no exception to the rule. Truth be told, I think more mentally ill marriages are likely to end up keeping the infamous "until death do us part" vows. After all, the most common defense for murdering a spouse tends to be "temporary insanity". Kind of peculiar isn't it? How two people with no documented history of mental illness on either side of the marital partnership can end in tragedy and during the survivor's arraignment the defense pleads insanity.

Pardon the humor, but it's true. If sane men and women across the globe can choose to live "unhappily ever after", I believe the mentally ill are capable of making the same "leap of faith". Mental illness courses through this country like blood through it's veins. It is most noted when you look at the literature being taught in our various institutions of higher learning. By the time the average student graduates high school they have been exposed a work written by William Shakespeare entitled "Romeo and Juliet". The story itself stands as a tribute to mental illness and marriage. It endures as the most revered literary love story of all time.

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