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General Need Some Advice Regarding Reactions

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Boo, She's pretty much told me why she doesn't go sometimes, just not in so many words - She's told me recently that the fear of confronting the event in therapy is huge...she says the fear is actually painful for her, as in physical pain. Also, she told me yesterday that she was "worn out" this week (she got back from a trip Monday morning - the "red-eye" flight) and that she probably needed a rest (from therapy), though she said she needed to call her therapist to reschedule (which she usually does).

Do I just need to suck up the money thing, be grateful she goes at all, and try to have more patience? My wife isn't a bad person at all, and I know she wants to confront this, but the times like this are so hard, combined with the money wasted...
 
Also, I want so badly for her to acknowledge the effect PTSD is having on the both of us, her with the physical symptoms and me emotionally...I feel like things would improve if she could accept that (although she may not agree)...is that just a pipe-dream?
 
I'm a big believer in no B.S. communication - it's definitly worth a mention to your wife on all those accounts. If it's bothering you she needs to know. It's really hard to not treat her like a fragile flower, but walking on eggs around her only causes more stress.
You can't play the "what if" game (what if she gets more depressed, what if this sparks yet another argument, etc.)
In sickness and in health / for richer for poorer, it is still a relationship.
 
I did a little reading up on GAD just now and I'm left with questions. I wish I could ask the therapist lol... How can anyone diagnose your wife with GAD if she already has been diagnosed with PTSD? I could be wrong, but it appeared to me that GAD would be anxiety disorder assigned to those who have the symptoms of PTSD but without the traumatic incident(s) to spark it off?

It just seems ridiculous that anyone would get diagnosed with both....Does anyone here happen to know, and can fill in the blanks?
 
I got diagnosed with both. Both at the same time too. That does seem a bit redundant, doesn't it?
 
superd said:
This is how it's going to be, according to her. This will be done on her time, not mine, her schedule, not mine. Do I just accept it, and go to work? Are there any other options here I am missing?

Yep, sounds to me just like anxiety from her PTSD, nothing more, nothing less. Whilst we all need room to move within our recovery process, there must always be a definitive line drawn when the sufferer is not in control of PTSD. A mutual agreement for example, sick or not, attend the appointment. I would also be a betting man to say it is nothing more than the anxiety of attending and facing fears. That does make us physically ill, no doubt about it.

These are the very same tactics I once tried, and failed with kerrie-ann, as she could see exactly what I was doing also... avoiding therapy to face my fears.

Moral: Coincidence? I think not, and that is what the sufferer must see. Therapy appointment = suddenly sick. Why? Anxiety of facing fear.
 
oh absolutely, Nam... The whole thing just baffles me. I could see someone without any traumatic experience getting diagnosed with GAD, but not someone who has been exposed to trauma.
 
Kells said:
How can anyone diagnose your wife with GAD if she already has been diagnosed with PTSD?

Your not wrong Kells... read [DLMURL="http://www.ptsdforum.org/thread1097.html"]multiple diagnosis with PTSD[/DLMURL], as that will answer all your questions. It is BS, and nothing more than stupidity on the therapists / physicians behalf. They do it because they either fail to understand what PTSD really is outside of the criteria, or they do it in order to help their kickbacks for medication prescriptions, ie. you have PTSD + GAD + Major Depression.... 3 or 4 prescription excuse, opposed to one prescription for just PTSD, as PTSD encompasses GAD and Major Depression. Morons... oxygen thiefs even... but certainly not looking after the best interest of the patient.
 
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ABout the GAD

I have brought this up also, but my wife's argument is that others in her immediate family have anxiety without having been exposed to trauma...and are on medication for it. Her family does have a history of mental illness, no doubt about it. Her GAD diagnosis came well before she realized that PTSD was affecting her life, and to what degree (we are still working on that part). So she clings to that GAD diagnosis, right or wrong, as proof that it "isn't just PTSD"...
 
Hi Superd,
Just a quick observation - it seems that if your wife can cling to the pre-existing diagnosis then she doesn't have to work on getting better (i.e. she was just born that way)

But more importantly, how are you doing these days?

~Boo
 
hey Boo,

Thanks for asking...I'm ok. I tend to internalize alot of our stress, and combined with the fact that I have had several trials lately, it wasn't fun...but work has slowed considerably and Kim's attitude seems to have improved overall despite not having gone to therapy in two weeks...we'll see
 
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