If something were to happen to you, what would you want your partner to do?

If it was a mental illness or something of the sort, then I'd break up with him because there's no point in seeing me suffer. And we all know that we don't want our loved ones to shed a tear and watch them suffer.

(Not in reply specifically to your post.)

Death aside - if we get an acquired disability (mental, physical, emotional, etc.) we're all saying how selfless we would be. Do we actually know what a disability is like? (+ I'm not sure about you guys, but I thought partners were supposed to love each other. There doesn't seem to be a point in happy fluffy love unless it also survives through the sad times. Actually if it's only happy-time love then why is it anything other than selfish? My $0.02.)

Disability. How will you survive? Think: you have a mental-emotional/physical illness enough to be "suffering" such as depression, hemiparalysis etc. That probably precludes you from work. Also from properly connecting with your friends. And means you feel isolated and lost. Maybe you feel you've lost meaning in your life. You are not going to be looking after yourself as well as you could.

(Even less if, amidst all your personal crisis and breakdown, you went and said to your partner "oh I'll break up with you so you don't have to suffer watching me." No one would do that, and no partner would agree to do it unless ^ as above they did not actually love them.)

What would you do, go back to your parents so they could look after you? Drop the partner in favour of a government disability handout? Government assistance doesn't even come close to a partner you love and who loves you.

All this selflessness from previous posters is very noble but I have grave doubts whether they'd actually do it!