Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
Background
Happily married for 33 years. Wife pretty, sociable, happy, decided to move after kids left near to the beach, had problems finding house let one go because of indecision, ended up in a rental, displaced, worried, wife lost about 50 pounds, had significant stress, and now suffers from horrible anxiety, is anti-social, not interested in speaking with friends or family, depressed, angry at herself. Questions,
1. Calls, Wife was always social, but now avoids calls. Sometimes I will give her the phone from a friend or family member and she seems happy and may talk for a 1/2 hour, but initially gets angry and sometimes a little violent, threw the phone or something else.
2. Therapy I come at the end of therapy and usually have a group of questions. Therapist is out of pocket. It seems like they talk a little but accomplish relatively little, this is her 3rd therapist, and the basic issues seem to be acknowledging a serious problem, preparing for the session with specific goals, and then using the session to accomplish it. Initially her view seemed to be soft-pedal or minimize the problem.
3. Self-image Wife is pretty. She gained about 35-40 lbs over the last 10 years, I am happy I did not make a big deal of it, she saw herself as pretty and was happy. Many women want to lose weight and now she has a striking figure, but a little big of change from the weight loss. Now she says she is ugly and embarassed to go out.
4. Candor, sarcasm She usually walks around and accomplishes little. What she should do seems straightforward, try to get out, work on stress reduction, listen to tapes, prepare for sessions, try to mirror what you did before you became ill. Is sarcasm appropriate, hey great, sure, just walk around and be miserable and not try to improve your life, great plan and you've been doing it for the last 4 months. One can be patient, and I try not to get angry, but it is hard.
Wife was a friendly, competent, fully functional mother, wife, employee, mother of 3, through her life and is now 64. We decided to move, had serious problems, challenges about what house to get and got none and bounced to several family places. She had serious depression and anxiety, and has now changed to seeming paranoia, and seeming schizophrenia. She believes people are out to get her, and blames herself. She can be periodically angry and needy. Sometimes she does not want to leave the house and other time not come back. Hospitalized once. On zyprexa and Lexipro which seem to do little.
Friends and family are shocked and saddened at the change. Any suggestions, particularly in crisis situations where she is frightened and perceives strange dangers in her environment.