Everyone’s got an opinion about mental health, but opinions based on myths add to stigma and make life harder for people affected by mental illness. So here are the facts you need to tell the truth from the myth. According to our international dating consultants, people with better mental health generally have better relationships.

  • Good mental health is important for international dating and relationships.

First of all, according to Sane Australia, mental illness is real. Our knowledge of mental illness is incomplete, but we can say one thing for certain: mental illness isn’t laziness, attention-seeking, bad diet, mental, physical or spiritual weakness or a failure of character. Mental illness is illness, as real as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Truthfully, anyone can develop a mental illness. There is no immunity to mental illness. Not everyone develops a mental illness during their lives, but anyone could. Also, at least 45% of us will experience a mental illness during our lives. And that’s just anxiety, mood disorders and substance addictions in people aged 16-85. Add in young people, schizophrenia, eating disorders, personality disorders and more and the figure is likely far higher. At least 20% of adults are affected by mental illness every year. Anxiety disorders are the most common, followed by depression. A significant number of Australians are also affected by personality disorders, eating disorders, psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia, and more. Some people have more than one diagnosis, and far too many Australians go undiagnosed. What’s more, four million Australians are affected by complex mental illness. At least 690,000 Australians live with complex mental illness (CMI), but an experience like CMI affects the lives of many people around the person with symptoms. For each person with CMI, it’s likely that five other people — families, friends, partners, colleagues and more — are affected. That makes four million Australians affected. In addition, some Australians are more likely to be affected than others. Indigenous Australians experience much higher rates of psychological distress than the general population, and lower access to mental health services. LGBTIQA+ people experience very high rates of depression and psychological distress and are the most at-risk group in Australia for suicide. Mental illness is not more common in rural and remote areas than in cities, but rates of suicide are much higher, services are harder to access and stigma can be higher. One in seven children aged 4-17 have experienced a mental illness and over a quarter of Australians aged 16-24 are experiencing a mental illness at any given time. Many people who live with mental illness first experience symptoms during adolescence. Identifying with one or more of these groups doesn’t mean you will become ill. The causes of mental illness are complex.

There isn’t one simple, obvious thing, like a virus or bacteria, that causes mental illness, and that makes the causes hard to work out. For some mental illnesses, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, it’s possible to inherit a predisposition — a greater likelihood that you’ll develop the disorder. For others there seems to be no genetic link at all. But even then, it doesn’t mean you’ll get sick. Your likelihood of developing a mental illness is influenced by a complex combination of genetic, neurological, developmental, environmental, socio-economic, cultural, life experience and other factors.

Research shows that people with better mental health are more likely to be happily married and stay married. (Source: SimplyDating.com – international dating site)

international dating

  • Mental health and creativity:

There’s no link between mental illness and creativity. Experiencing mental illness doesn’t make you more creative, and being creative doesn’t make you more likely to experience a mental illness. Likewise, getting treatment for mental illness doesn’t reduce your creativity, although the side-effects of some medicines can affect you.

Having said that, a large number of artists have had mental health issues, including pop singers, movie stars and creative writers.

  • Mental health and international marriages:

A recent study shows that couples who have positive relationships generally have great mental health, and their children are also mentally healthy. In contrast, couples who have mental health problems tend to have relationship problems as well, and their children also may have mental health issues as a result.

Marriage counsellors in America maintain that couples who are in international marriages oftentimes have better mental health because usually, people who are open-minded would choose international relationships. Open-minded individuals are often mentally healthy in the long run.

“Couples with better mental health are much more likely to stay in satisfying relationships in the long term. Therefore, it is evident that mental health plays a key role in dating and relationships.”