Book excerpt: A sex manual like no other, this book covers a variety of mental health problems and offers ways to overcome them when they threaten to undermine a loving relationship. Until now, the marketplace has offered little valuable information for couples in which one or both partners suffers from mental illness with resulting sexual problems. Sex, Love, and Mental Illness: A Couple's Guide to Staying Connected is for all of those couples. It will help both parties understand the effects of mental illness—and of the medications used to treat it—on sexual desire and performance and provide ways to maintain both physical and emotional intimacy. The first section of the book centers on common sexual concerns and loving someone with a mental disorder. The second addresses a wide range of mental disorders, their effects on relationships, and ways couples can work together to overcome those effects. Among the conditions covered are mood disorders; anxiety disorders; chronic pain; eating disorders; substance-related disorders; post traumatic stress; ADD; Asperger's Syndrome; and even severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia. The emphasis throughout is on each partner developing empathy and communication skills to enhance the sexual experience and preserve a healthy relationship.