NC-LDR and Getting Him Back Advice

Hello to anyone who has taken the time out to read this! So my story is that I met my ex in high school as acquaintances, but we didn’t start dating until 10 years later. My ex broke up with me after we were together for 4 months. I know it was a short amount of time, but I felt like we had/have something special. So he moved away a month after we started dating for a fresh start, but we both decided to continue with the relationship because we both enjoyed spending time together and getting to know each other. He would come back to our hometown once a month for drill with the national guard. This was my first real LDR with someone so we would text each other once a day, if not at least every other day. We also established weekly phone calls to feel closer to each other…I feel a little silly now as I write this because a part of me should have seen the break up coming since I knew he was leaving to get a fresh start to work on his mental and emotional well being…

Back to the story, we had this routine down for about 4 months, then last week during our weekly phone call he dropped the bomb saying that because of his 3 jobs, the possibility of going to school, and working on his health, he didn’t think he would be able to maintain our relationship. I was very sad to hear this because I didn’t want to break up, but I understood his need to make himself a priority especially when it comes to mental and emotional health. During our conversation he said that he hoped that maybe we could try being together again when he was better, but to also not count on it happening in a certain time period since he could get better in 3 months, 6 months, a year, or longer. No one will know until he gets to that point. We ended on good terms for sure. He is still someone I want in my life even though it may not be in a romantic relationship.

So it’s been a week since we’ve broken up, I’ve officially established the NC today since I slipped up during the week. I guess I need advice and support because it’s still so fresh. I’ve read some forum posts and the blogs/articles on the website. I just want to know if anyone else has been through this before in an LDR and accepting a partner’s mental illness? Were you able to successfully get back together? I do want him back someday. I truly felt and believe that we could be great together, but I know he needs to work on himself and so do I.