Good luck with your meds.

scheduling is going to have to be creative

I hope you two can get through this and become the loving couple that you once were.

the biggest obstacle is going to be his willingness/ability to see how his mental health and his attitude affect us and our relationship. some of his behaviors and thoughts are concerning to me and others who know him, but he just tells me we're all having the same delusion.

all i can do is be supportive, lead by example and keep talking. the man i fell in love with is still in there, he's just buried under tons of shit and it's ultimately up to him to dig out of it.

especially what sounds like a thoughtful doc.

ALL THE BEST!

we'll see how it goes with the doc, he's a bit odder than most, but i think we'll get along

Yes, do watch for any rashes!
And I think "leading by example" the BEST choice you can make!

BHN

but i'm working against all the garbage from his childhood. he was raised to not have emotions, to not talk about them, to not talk about conflict, to not talk about anything, basically. i was raised in the opposite environment - my family talks about everything, you do not apologize for your feelings as long as you act on them appropriately, we respect each others feelings and talk through problems. i'm trying to show him that asking questions to understand his feelings/thoughts does not mean that i'm questioning or challenging the feelings or thoughts themselves, but how he got there or why he may be feeling that way. he's been in a defensive posture for so long, the simplest question will sometimes set him off.

i'm also trying to show him that taking medication is not only ok but beneficial. he's so opposed to taking meds, but i know that getting his anxiety under control will help him deal with everything else. he's not opposed to taking my ativan from time to time, but told me it was hateful and nasty to suggest that he could benefit from daily meds.

i called the marriage counselor on tuesday and still haven't heard back from him. i'm on the fence about calling him again or moving onto another one.

my one bit of advice- be aware of the pre/post therapy session "tides". so much shit is stirred, then u have to swim in it for the week. hard. hard.

we're stalled out on the marriage counselor, i never heard back from the one i called, so i think i'm just going to go back to the list i put together. have to put it off til later in the week, my boss is out of town so i have to be him and me and i'm just trying to keep my shit together.