Prayers for my wife requested on two counts.

[flameburns623]

At the end of August,  as I was preparing for my own baptism,  it became apparent that my (never-Mormon) wife has suffered a psychological breakdown. I  won't go into great detail but I have spent much of the past six weeks learning to navigate the mental health services on her behalf.  

This week we got her into a psychiatrist,  who is doing usual checks for evidence of an organic cause.

Meanwhile,  the initial diagnosis is for depression-induced psychoses and she is being treated for the evident and hopefully underlying depression.  Some elements of her current issues may have been ignored or undetected for decades, however.

This is a story in progress and not one I want to divulge in too great length on a public forum.  I can only ask prayers on her behalf.

In the midst of this, my wife has rediscovered Christian faith,  after being estranged therefrom for no small span of years. She asked to attend Church with me (with no prior prrssure or inducement from me); has been receiving Missionary discussions; and yesterday set a tentative date for baptism. Please keep this in prayers as well. 

[Okrahomer]

Many of us here love you, dear brother.  We are praying for you both.

[rpn]

Done it.  

Please be sure she gets cognitive behavioral therapy.   It is research proven for depression and is used successfully for a number of others.   Many therapists claim they do it: few actually do it with fidelity.   It is a short term (probably fewer than 20 sessions) therapy that teaches (with homework) healthy thinking skills.  You don't spend a whole lot of time on the past.  It makes a big world of difference for a lifetime.  

 

 

Edited October 2, 2016 by rpn

[Traela]

Prayers for you and your wife.

 

[Calm]

1 hour ago, flameburns623 said:

At the end of August,  as I was preparing for my own baptism,  it became apparent that my (never-Mormon) wife has suffered a psychological breakdown. I  won't go into great detail but I have spent much of the past six weeks learning to navigate the mental health services on her behalf.  

This week we got her into a psychiatrist,  who is doing usual checks for evidence of an organic cause.

Meanwhile,  the initial diagnosis is for depression-induced psychoses and she is being treated for the evident and hopefully underlying depression.  Some elements of her current issues may have been ignored or undetected for decades, however.

This is a story in progress and not one I want to divulge in too great length on a public forum.  I can only ask prayers on her behalf.

In the midst of this, my wife has rediscovered Christian faith,  after being estranged therefrom for no small span of years. She asked to attend Church with me (with no prior prrssure or inducement from me); has been receiving Missionary discussions; and yesterday set a tentative date for baptism. Please keep this in prayers as well. 

Be prepared for a long haul.  Often can take 6 weeks just to find out something isn't working, so it gets tweaked a bit, rinse, repeat.  Not easy to wait when you see the pain, even when some of that pain is numbness.  Get yourself some good counseling and support system as well.  Being a caregiver of the chronically depressed even if there are no complicating factors is hard,  I imagine it becomes much higher when it involves psychosis.

Being able to hold on to God even when I couldn't feel him was so important to me in my depression.  I see the lack of that in my daughter who has never had faith as an adult (her problems hit when she was 12, 13 years later she doesn't remember her trust as anything but trust in her parents).  I hope her connection with God can grow for your wife, for you both.

[Calm]

And don't neglect nutrition.  I am finding a new multimineral is really helping with stabilzing (as in tossing them out of here) my anxiety after years of trying different things (probably a combo of the thyroid supplement, avoiding drugs and supplements save the absolute necessary ones and using a multivitamin and a multimineral rather than individual ones...which is the opposite of how I have worked in the past because I want to know which mineral/vitamin had an effect, but apparently that throws things out of balance).

[flameburns623]

NAMI-National Alliance for the Mentally Ill--has a support group I am attending.  

Yes, I have been cautioned this may become a lifetime of maintaining stability for my wife, and that she may be a very changed person for ever hereafter,  although hopefully not always displaying the abberations which began to manifest in August. 

Thanks for the kind words and the prayers. 

[Calm]

Yeah, the before and after can be heartbreaking, especially if you get glimpses of what used to be. But this new side of our loved ones needs our love even more and maybe that draws our ability to love even more out of us than when it was always so easy to adore them.  You have to learn to forgive yourself for feeling angry or resentful about lost dreams, it is not a bad thing to have wanted something good.  We just need to figure out the new goods that will come our way.

Edited October 1, 2016 by Calm

[MorningStar]

Praying for her.  I'm so sorry for the struggle you are both going through. 

[ERayR]

3 hours ago, flameburns623 said:

At the end of August,  as I was preparing for my own baptism,  it became apparent that my (never-Mormon) wife has suffered a psychological breakdown. I  won't go into great detail but I have spent much of the past six weeks learning to navigate the mental health services on her behalf.  

This week we got her into a psychiatrist,  who is doing usual checks for evidence of an organic cause.

Meanwhile,  the initial diagnosis is for depression-induced psychoses and she is being treated for the evident and hopefully underlying depression.  Some elements of her current issues may have been ignored or undetected for decades, however.

This is a story in progress and not one I want to divulge in too great length on a public forum.  I can only ask prayers on her behalf.

In the midst of this, my wife has rediscovered Christian faith,  after being estranged therefrom for no small span of years. She asked to attend Church with me (with no prior prrssure or inducement from me); has been receiving Missionary discussions; and yesterday set a tentative date for baptism. Please keep this in prayers as well. 

My prayers are with her and you

[Jeanne]

A cyber hug and prayer to the both of you.  Know that you are loved and never alone.  Your wife has one essential great thing going for her.  She has you.   May the trials you face today somehow reap you an endless peace in the years to come. 

[Garden Girl]

Prayers going forward flame... and don't forget to put both of your names on the prayer roll of your temple (there's one in St Louis)... like Calm says, take care of you also...

GG

[Guest]

I went through something very similar with my wife about 32 years ago. It was very difficult to tread those troubled waters. May God bless you, and both of you will remain in my prayers. 

[flameburns623]

Some happier news.

Wife has seen counselors and a therapist and is receiving appropriate treatment.  She is much improved since I opened this thread.

Meanwhile,  the experience seems to have thrust her to her knees. She began accepting lessons from the Missionaries,  and I performed her baptism two weeks ago. 

This week I  am also to baptize my son-in-law. We are "working on" our daughter.  (😉lol)

ADDENDUM: My wife and I have received ourLimited-use Temple Recommends. 

Edited November 1, 2016 by flameburns623

[Calm]

So good to hear.