I know it’s long to read but I really need your thoughts/advices 🥺.
I (student,22M) have been in a relationship with my girlfriend (also student,21F) for almost a year now and I can say that I’ve never loved someone like this or invested this much. She’s a very lovely person but suffers from some mental health issues : she has the bipolar disorder type 2 and is also very likely to have the borderline personality disorder (she hasn’t been diagnosed by a psychiatrist yet but experiences many of its symptoms).. it appears logical with this type of description that we’ve been through a lot of ups and downs but we always managed to solve the obstacles that we faced.. up until now. I have also to mention that we always had a great chemistry and developed a strong intimacy both physically and emotionally. Sadly this summer, we couldn’t meet for multiple reasons (we live in different cities and her parents are too strict to let her go out).. so you can easily understand that it was a tough period for us but we managed to get through it ( 3 weeks before we were still very close emotionally and sexually and were like sexting a lot) but recently, about 2 weeks earlier she got through an extremely stressful period where she became progressively distant with me (it’s a usual trait in her) and our communication became like her almost exclusively complaining and exposing her stress and me trying my best to listen and reassure her. 3 days earlier, it was the return of academic year and luckily she also solved a big problem with the university Ans got relieved by it so I thought like we would be finally back to normal but it wasn’t the case.. from the moment we met and hugged I felt like something was off, she was kinda distant and not really comfortable with me especially physically.. we hang out that day and I offered her the gifts that I bought for her birthday and that I knew she would like very much but I felt like she was more excited about the gifts than she was really appreciating my efforts and me trying to make her happy. The 2 days that followed did worsen my worries where she basically made plans going out with some friends ( I have no problems with that but I thought she would prioritise our time together since it’s been so long that we didn’t see each other) and even yesterday she had a mood shift because of her bipolar disorder where she felt really low so I offered my company but she declined it and preferred to stay alone ( again I have no problems with that but it feels really odd to me especially that she always needed my presence at that time).. I told her that we needed to talk that day and I explained what I was feeling and how it appeared to me that I was losing my value in her eyes (this devaluation thing is a characteristic of the bpd). She told me after thinking for a while that I was right but that she doesn’t know why she is behaving like that and she said she felt like her priorities shifted and that she wanted more variety in her life (I don’t think it’s a bad thing in itself but I don’t want it to affect our relationship) so I asked if she still loves me and she answered that she was still in love with me but that she wasn’t seeing me the same way romantically and physically and that she doesn’t know why. I asked then if she wanted to really search why and if she was still invested to put in the efforts and energy for us to get back where we were but she answered not at the moment but that she doesn’t want to lose me and want a sort of break in the relationship where we communicate more like close friends and where she tries to figure out what is really happening and if it’s permanent or not. My problem with that is that it’s really stressful to me and that I hate staying in this situation. I know that most of you will probably tell me  to just break up but I want to stay that I really love the person and that since my gf has all these mental issues and that the thing that happened was so sudden, it appears that it can’t be like the person did really change but it’s mostly a momentary phase… so what are your thoughts/advices about it ?