Hi, my husband has severe anxiety issues. He has the entire time I have know him but recently it has gotten much worse. I did get him to go into therapy but have been dealing with the backlash of that decision. He is angry and even more anxious. I do talk to his mom (who dealt with him as a teenager) and a close friend but am looking for other moms who may be dealing with this or a similar issue. I feel like I need a support group in order to support him!! Thanks Mamas!!
Is he still in therapy? Does his counselor specialize in anxiety issues? If not, I would find one who does.
I would recommend reading "Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain" by John J. Ratey and Eric Hagerman
I have a psychologist friend who specializes in anxiety issues who advocates the principles in this book. She uses exercise as part of her patient's therapy.
I am the person in my family with the anxiety issue. I can tell you that there is really no controlling it. It can be something so small but it will consume my thoughts for days. I have been to the doctor and he gave me medication that I took for a while, but even that didn't help so I stopped taking it. My husband just tells me not to worry about things (which totally doesn't help!) I don't think talking to a therapist would help me at all, because I am already talking it through in my head. It's a whole deal of "What if this happens? But that couldn't happen because of this, but it could happen because of that". I can't help it, I worry. Just love your husband and support him.
How long has he been in therapy? I think sometimes things like this get worse before they get better. Being in therapy might have forced him to take a look at some of the things from his past that have led to his anxiety, and imagine how hard that must be. I know you already got one book recommendation but I have another: Waking the Tiger, healing from trauma. I'm not sure if childhood trauma is his issue or not (he might not even know) but it's an interesting book.
Make sure he is getting enough sleep. It seems simple, but my anxiety increases tenfold when I am not getting enough sleep which makes me irritable!
I have it and Lexapro helped me tremendously.
