Relationship Struggling

[Wifeofcptsd]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post here. I'm married to a lovely man with cptsd from his horrific childhood. We've been married for almost six years.

It has not been easy. He shut down and barely came out of his home office for six months a few years ago. We went months without having sex. There were a lot of other life issues going on and it was always easy to say "things will be better when...."

Life is good now and he is still struggling. He is not seeing a therapist right now (he says he will soon) but he did recently get a medical marijuana card which is helping control symptoms. He isn't constantly dissosciating anymore so that's a big improvement.

He still shuts down and retreats into himself to the point where I often feel very alone. I've gotten to the point a couple of times in the last six months where I told my therapist I couldn't handle it anymore. One was last week. Things always get better for a bit and I start to relax and then get worse again.

I'm here to find support and hope. I love my husband more than anything. I don't want to feel alone anymore.

 

[Sweetpea76]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Virtues]

I'm not the most optimistic person in this forum (I'm not the most pessimistic either)... I'm more of a realist... I am kind of blunt, but that is a character flaw, don't take it personally. I don't like to highlight the bad side of things, but the truth is, the bad comes with the good; there is no rose gardens in the world of PTSD. Unfortunately for all of us PTSD symptoms come in waves so things will get better only to get worse again only to get better and so on and so on... The key is working on recovery through therapy. With time, practice, and new skills the hope is the onset of symptoms will be fewer and further in between and less intense when they come. Your roll in this should also be to develop patience and new skills so you can better deal with the waves once they hit. It is a bumpy road and I don't know what keeps my wife going, the only thing I can think of is love and commitment. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Mytime]

Welcome to the forum :)