Paranoid schizophrenia

My ex partner has recently confessed that he had this illness, i had guessed but wasnt sure, however, can people with this illness hold down a loving relationship as i feel he is trying to tell me he wants me back?

This will be an unpopular answer, and I will acknowledge that there are exceptions to every rule, but my experience with schizophrenics by and large is that they generally will always experience difficulties with intimacy. They certainly can be loving partners and parents, and they can certainly fall in love and they can maintain stable intimate relationships, but it tends to depend largely on your expectations and needs for emotional intimacy whether the relationship will be satisfying for you.

Schizophrenics often tend to be more distant than what is generally desired in most intimate relationships and strong emotions tend to be difficult for them to handle, both their own as well as those of people around them.

The disease is life long and has a chronic course with no cure, although there are often long periods of stability or remission where folks remain free of the acute symptoms. The "negative" symptoms of amotivation, withdrawal, anhedonia and blunted affect are usually present to some degree, however, even during these stable periods. They can do relatively well in long term intimate relationships where there is a low demand for emotional intimacy, tolerance for social distance and minimal conflict, but highly charged emotional interactions would frequently precipitate decompensation and the onset of acute symptoms.