Skip to main content Skip to bottom nav

Husband coming home from first psychiatric hospital stay

User Profile: braveBalsam3192
braveBalsam3192 February 9th, 2021

7 years into a steady decline (mentally and physically) and culminating last year with deeply repressed memories of pretty devastating childhood abuse surfacing and now losing his mom to ALS, my husband finally walked himself into the ER and asked to be admitted for psychiatric intervention. He was sleeping nearly 24 hrs a day, utterly immobilized by depression and anxiety despite medication and 4+ years with a wonderful therapist. I have gradually become more and more completely his caregiver over the years while coping with my own decently managed but still ever present depression/anxiety/OCD/phobias/lupus. This was the first time we had been separated for more than a few days and I was shocked at how difficult that was for me even though there was also this huge relief as I got a break from caregiving. Because of covid there is zero visitation possibility and no cell phones allowed so I could not even message him or video chat, just a communal phone during certain hours but he was so drained from the intense group therapy etc he didn't have the energy to speak to me for more than a couple minutes and separation felt so profound I felt grief almost as though he had died and this stunned me. Wrestling with understanding codependency and untangling it from our relationship which is genuinely loving and close, we've been best friends for 11 years and married for 8. Now they're looking at discharging him any day now even though he is just beginning to face the big healing work ahead and doesn't feel ready to come home and I feel so lost as to how to BE once he's back. How do I support him, help him as his wife and friend, without falling back into the awful codependent toxicity/resentment cycle we had ended up in? Anyone relate? Learning about codependency I feel like the rug was pulled out from under me and I don't know what a healthy loving relationship should even look like now! I am trying to put on a brave confident face but I feel pretty lost and anxious at the thought of him coming home when he is still in the thick of this crisis.

1
User Profile: PeaceLoveandPaws
PeaceLoveandPaws February 10th, 2021

@braveBalsam3192

I am very sorry you are going throught this. I can feel your love for your husband through your words and I can the toll this has taken on your. It sounds like the love you have for each other, your friendship, too, is stong and you want to move in the direction of more heathy patterns in your marriage. Change is never easy and I understand your anxious feelings as well as putting on a brave face. Given all that you have gone through, I think it's brave of you to share your feelings and seek support here. Will you be having a family meeting before his discharge? I've headr, in some instances, that happens before realse from a psychiatric stay as part of the overall after care and safety plan for the future. Do you think you might feel comfortable adressing your concerns openly with his care team before he is discharged? It's possible they may have advice and/or resources for you both that could be benefitial in moving forward in a healthy way. I wish you both the very best.