I've been trying to find out somewhere to write this and I think here is the best fit (probably shouldn't have taken me this long to figure that out but it did). I would like to apologize if this topic has been over discussed or there's another thread about it I haven't seen on here.

Alright, so I was checking out another site (it was exclusively for those who suffer with PTSD or support someone suffers with it) and I stumbled upon something that hit close to home. This thread was discussing supporters who couldn't support their significant other anymore and had left them. Being a sufferer who's very recently endured a breakup like this, I felt a mix of emotions. One of these emotions was just plain anger, another one was despair; more than anything I felt at a loss. Supporters talking said they didn't like it when the sufferer would pretend to be okay for them, but then again they were overwhelmed by the sufferer's honesty. A full blown catch 22. It was like if someone told me, "Hey, you can try or you can't, either way you're too broken to handle and you're unable to receive unconditional love because you have PTSD."

So, here's what I want to discuss: Obviously this isn't the PTSD forum and this discussion isn't exclusively for individuals with PTSD. Anyone who has a mental illness has likely felt like a burden to a significant other, family member and/or a friend. There are things you sometimes (or all of the time) can't do and need help with. There are times when illness takes over, becomes too much and it indirectly affects someone you love. **** happens with every relationship but more seems to happen when mental illness is involved (at least in my experience).

I want to open a discussion for what drives supporters to leave, is there anyway to prevent it, and what is the sufferer supposed to do once that support leaves. I have been left by family members, former friends and (as mentioned above) recently my ex-fiance. Every time it happens, they take a piece of me with them and they never explain it past, "Things just became too hard." Never any specifics as to what I may have done or didn't do. No feed back, no real explanation, just nothing.

I need this discussion for me but I know I can't be the only one, so here it is.