I Fall More In Love With Giulia Every Single Day

Mark Lukach’s life was perfect – until his wife was diagnosed with a mental illness. This is his story…

- Kristina Beanland

In the fairy tales we read to our children and the films we watch at the cinema, we’re often told the same story – a couple meet, they fall in love, and they live happily ever after. and when I met Giulia, even at just 18 years old, I knew that I’d found The one. But, while we got married and had our son, ours is not a typical love story. Because, in September 2009, Giulia had a psychotic breakdown. The woman I knew disappeared, and I wondered if we’d ever be happy again…

I met Giulia in August 2000 during our first year of university. Funny, smart, and way out of my league, I couldn’t believe she was interested in me. But, from the moment we kissed, we were a couple. Whether it was watching a movie or crashing a wedding together (yes, one night, Giulia convinced me to put on a tux and join in the fun!), I was happy.

Increasing anxiety

After graduation, in September 2005, I proposed and we got married 10 months later. Our evening ritual was to have a meal and dance our way through washing up. I’d look at my wife,shimmying around the kitchen, and wonder how I’d got so lucky.

In July 2009, Giulia, then 27, got a new job in marketing. When she came home after her first day, she mumbled something about not being able to keep up with her colleagues. I put it down to nerves, but she grew more anxious.

She’d call me for reassurance, and ask me to check her emails before sending them. Some were only a sentence, but she said they’d taken hours. Soon, she refused to eat and stopped sleeping.

Then, in September 2009, I woke up to find Giulia pacing our bedroom. ‘I heard voices,’ she said. ‘I heard the devil.’

In that moment, I stared at Giulia in utter disbelief. Surely, this strange person wasn’t my wife. This had to be a scene from some awful film.