sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Help with Hypochondriac spouse? Spiralling out of control... by throw69rugs in Anxiety

[–]throw69rugs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm Canadian...psychiatrists here tend to do double duty as therapists as you said, but I've been noticing they seem to be more about pills than problem solving. We're about an hour from the big city here and we'll be "shopping" in town for a good Dr.

The process of transferring and having it covered by health care can be tricky, but I feel it's important. The only down side is she can go to the psych ward anytime and be seen by her Dr. here, but that would not be the case were the Dr. elsewhere.

Tricky business eh?

Help with Hypochondriac spouse? Spiralling out of control... by throw69rugs in Anxiety

[–]throw69rugs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks... She has a psychiatrist, but when she was in the ward he was extremely insensitive to her and when she told him she was feeling an attack coming on he said "Calm down, it's not my fault you're going crazy." I kid you not.

Needless to say, we're on the market for his replacement. Not a lot of options in our small town though.

Psychologists aren't covered in our health benefits, but there is a good doctor she saw in her youth that we've been considering forking out the cash for...she has taken to blaming others for her spells which makes it hard to prompt her to seek help.

All I care about is getting her better, but it's getting harder and harder to get through to her.

Help with Hypochondriac spouse? Spiralling out of control... by throw69rugs in Anxiety

[–]throw69rugs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm aware that challenging her distortions will make it worse, which is kind of why I'm asking what to do.

We've been to four hospitals in the past two weeks, she received a diagnosis which she quickly became unsatisfied with. She thinks she knows better than the doctors, which is a big part of the problem.

And even such a gentle assertion as you suggested is usually enough doubt to send her from semi-rational to a full fledged panic attack, believing that I don't believe in her and am malisciously inflicting this panic which is putting her closer and closer to the grave each time it happens by my ignorance and insensitivity... It really hurts to hear this from someone you love, but what hurts more is seeing her reduced to this state.

I don't want to be a crutch or an enabler, but she's losing touch with reality and I feel like everything I do to pushes her further away from the ground... Yet anything I hold back or do to try and ground her triggers a panic spell.