Quote: let me strongly advise you not to ask him about any past problems. I also wouldn't ask his mom. It really doesn't matter, because an affair is really a kind of mental illness in itself.
While I agree that the WAS is usually experiencing a form of mental illness, most often depression, I DO think it might be worthwhile to find out the past history, because it makes a difference in how you would proceed. If that was a history of depression, you might be able to use that information to encourage him to seek treatment by reminding him of how it helped then. If it is a history of psychosis or mania, that would be important information to convey to his doctor and you would know what to watch for.
