# Easiest mental disorder to live with (present in someone else?) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 2, 2015, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979 "2015-03-02T03:49:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/1 "2015-03-02T03:49:48Z")
What mental disorder is the easiest to live with if a spouse, loved one or other person you were living with had it? And which is the most difficult disorder? My completely unprofessional guess is that depression might be the easiest to cope with if your spouse or someone else had it, because while it would probably involve them being withdrawn or drained of emotion, that would likely be easier to cope with than someone who was ragingly furious, violent, or very psychopathic. (This thread includes such disorders as depression, bipolar disorder, OCD, extreme ADHD, anger issues, violent tendencies, anorexia, bulimia, psychopathic tendencies, anxiety/panic attacks, delusions, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/2 "2015-03-02T10:21:03Z")
My partner has slight OCD and needs to check that a door is locked between 7-10 times, but if I lock the door for her, she doesn’t need to check, so it’s quite easy to live with. My ex was possessed by the devil, that was difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Cees-R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@Cees-R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cees-R)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/3 "2015-03-02T11:15:57Z")
For me it would be autism, I have things from PDD NOS and Asperger Syndrome but it’s very light. If I would meet someone who has something similar it would be easier for us to get along because we know how to deal with each other’s autism. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/4 "2015-03-02T11:47:10Z")
I think it depends on the personality of the “healthy” person. A cheery, optimistic, high-energy extrovert would likely not being able to tolerate a dysthymic for very long. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/5 "2015-03-02T12:31:59Z")
Someone who thinks they are a chicken, particularly if you like eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/6 "2015-03-02T13:11:23Z")
I’m guessing that Sociopaths would be Very hard to live with. People who think they are funny in public at other peoples expense would probably totally suck too. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/7 "2015-03-02T13:32:12Z")
It depends who has it. Some people can be depressed or have panic attacks, and it’s entirely self contained - you’d have to study them for a while to even notice anything’s wrong. Typically, these cases become far worse than those afflicting more open people, as they go untreated for much longer. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/8 "2015-03-02T15:44:30Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I think it depends on the personality of the “healthy” person. A cheery, optimistic, high-energy extrovert would likely not being able to tolerate a dysthymic for very long. This. I could never live with someone who was chronically depressed, it would make me crazy and we would end up hating each other. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/9 "2015-03-02T15:47:49Z")
Living with a depressed person is hard. They won’t do anything like chores or errands or contribute in any meaningful way. Like, today, it is hard for me to do the laundry, even medicated. I always thought a schizophrenic would be easy to live with, if under proper treatment. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/10 "2015-03-02T17:23:35Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > My partner has slight OCD and needs to check that a door is locked between 7-10 times, but if I lock the door for her, she doesn’t need to check, so it’s quite easy to live with. My wife has OCD, but it’s pretty manageable with appropriate medication. We’ve got our getting-out-of-the-house checking ritual down to an art, and at this point it really isn’t much of a burden in any other way either. So I’d much rather live with someone with OCD at this level than someone with any other mental disorder. > [@](#): > > My ex was possessed by the devil, that was difficult. Wouldn’t that be more of a spiritual disorder? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/11 "2015-03-02T17:40:18Z")
> [@LibrarySpy](#): > > Living with a depressed person is hard. They won’t do anything like chores or errands or contribute in any meaningful way. Well, you could say the same thing about living with cats, which plenty of us enjoy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/12 "2015-03-02T17:51:53Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > Well, you could say the same thing about living with cats, which plenty of us enjoy. 😃 At least I don’t leave fur everywhere… mostly. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/13 "2015-03-02T17:58:23Z")
Whatever [Karolina Olsson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karolina_Olsson) had. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/14 "2015-03-03T03:04:08Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I think it depends on the personality of the “healthy” person. A cheery, optimistic, high-energy extrovert would likely not being able to tolerate a dysthymic for very long. Perhaps, although opposites might attract or coexist well together. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/15 "2015-03-03T03:23:33Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I think it depends on the personality of the “healthy” person. A cheery, optimistic, high-energy extrovert would likely not being able to tolerate a dysthymic for very long. I think the opposite is true as well; namely it depends on the personality of the ill person too. How well two people co-exist depends on factors on both sides. A cheery, optimistic, high energy extrovert might find a chronically depressed person harder to live with than a more stoic, introverted (but still healthy) person might. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/16 "2015-03-03T03:24:29Z")
IME living with a depressed person is like trying to play fetch with a dead dog. No matter how many times you throw the ball, that dog just won’t run. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-mental-disorder-to-live-with-present-in-someone-else/713979/17 "2015-03-03T03:39:42Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I think the opposite is true as well; namely it depends on the personality of the ill person too. How well two people co-exist depends on factors on both sides. A cheery, optimistic, high energy extrovert might find a chronically depressed person harder to live with than a more stoic, introverted (but still healthy) person might. Sorry, I realize I didn’t really finish my thoughts. Not all people with the same mental disorders have the same personalities. Two people, both with depression, may express that disorder in myriad different ways, depending on a number of things, things like personality. So just as the personality of the healthy person makes a difference in determining what illness would be easiest to co-exist amidst, so does the personality of the ill person.