How does your spouse deal with your anxiety

[Darren John]

hi
i was just wondering house peoples spouse`s deal with your anxiety..
are the caring and understanding or do they resent you because of your condition..
i`ve had my anxiety for years and to be honest i`ve had to deal with alone..
if ever i try to talk to my wife about my condition she gets angry and keeps saying she doesn`t understand..today she told me "it`s holding her back"..
i honestly do understand that it`s just as hard for our partners and it`s stops us doing things that other families do..
she has never in all the time i`ve been a sufferer sat down with me and discussed how we are going to beat it..
i love her to bits but i hate my anxiety for coming between us..
like i said i just wondered how other spouse`s cope with it..

[coachchris]

A lot of spouses respond in anger because they too are scared and confused. They really do want to help but they just don't know how. There are some partner helps in the very back of the guidebook. I ask my clients to go through and highlight what pertains to their story and then have their partner/spouse read through it. We also have the "I'll Be There For You" CD they can listen to. I think our biggest challenge (it was for me as well) is to keep growing and committing to our healing even if they can't support us that well. We have to take responsibility for our own growth. Keep finding the positives in your relationship and ask each other what your needs are. For example: Each of you exchange your top 3 needs for one another and then commit to meeting those needs for one week. I promise this will make a huge difference in the relationship.

Keep us posted. We are here to help!
Coach Chris StressCenter.com