Marie's Agoraphobia, Monophobia & OCD - review of 2010

This post is somewhat overdue...

Unfortunately Marie's condition at the start of 2011 was not significantly different to what was stated in my review of 2009.

Well, that didn't take long, but now the explanation for my prolonged absence from blogging.

First of all, please let me apologise to my regular readers.  There is no adequate excuse for just "disappearing" without a word of explanation.  I have felt guilty about not explaining why I had stopped blogging and visiting the blogs of my blogging friends.  However, belatedly, below are the reasons for my absence.

Soon after my last post, over a year ago, I and my two little children went to the South of France for a holiday.  Marie, of course, didn't go.  We had a very enjoyable time.

When we returned, Marie entered a period of depression.  It was to last, on and off, for the rest of the year.

I had a non-functioning but needy wife, two little children, an autistic son, four adult daughters, six grandchildren, 2 lots of Austrian students, my voluntary work at our local school and a growing business with 14 permanent staff and some casual employees to look after.  And then the 2nd most important staff member unexpectedly retired...

I was busy!

No time for blogging.

And after a while, I lost the desire to blog.  Even if I had had the time to blog, what would I say?  Marie's not doing very well...She's still not doing very well..She's a little better...She's a little worse...   I didn't feel that I had much to say of any significance.

Also, I became very tired.

However, I have some news for everyone.  Not good news, exactly, but it might be of interest to some.  During the course of 2010, Marie became more and more interested in The Linden Method.  (Btw, I have no connection to Charles Linden or his organisation/business and I receive no payment for the preceding link or for mentioning The Linden Method.)  She became convinced that it was her way out of her anxiety-controlled existence.  And next time I have an hour or two to spare, I'll tell you about it.

And the winner is...Anxiety!

Things aren't so good around here.  Marie's anxiety level is about exploding level. She is totally housebound now.  She is irritable and hasn't much time for our children, our home or me.

Marie and anxiety have been having a battle for quite a while.  And the winner is...well, you know who...

After a couple of months of this, I've realised that I am unable to cope with looking after the children, Marie, my business and the house.  I've been exhausted and my business has suffered.  I have excellent employees and I feel a responsibility towards them to maintain their employment.  So we've hired some domestic help.  This has freed up time for me to catch up with my business affairs.

I gave Marie as much space as I could over the last several weeks.  At last, this week, she came to me, and told me, tearfully, just how bad she felt.  And how she couldn't face living like this forever. She didn't know if she was going mad, or whether her medication was adversely affecting her.  We contacted contacted our family doctor and she agreed that Marie should discontinue her medication.  After a few weeks, if she still feels that she needs medication, we can discuss the alternatives with her.

Our agoraphobic neighbours have been terrific in offering assistance when requested.

Marie is fighting back.

Anxiety may have won the battle, but it hasn't won the war.

Mingling with Marie's Mental Mates at the Party for Panicky People - second succesful Saturday session

Sorry.  The long title is just me having a bit of fun with alliteration.  Just a little bit of self indulgence...

On Saturday evening, Marie hosted her second party for anxiety sufferers and their partners.  The first party (you can read about it here) was last December.  Our fourteen guests came from all over the South of England - five of them travelled more than three hours to get here!  Three stayed the weekend with us.

Most of our guests had never visited the Exmoor area before, and they were very impressed with the scenery and relaxed ambiance of the area.  The idyllic weather helped, of course.

What a great party it was!  It was a great bunch of people relaxing in the knowledge that if they felt a bit panicky, no one would look on them as nutters or weirdos.  Some guests arrived in time for dinner, while others came just afterwards and the gentle revelling continued until about 1.30 am. No one got too drunk, noisy, belligerent or annoying.  The five children also present got on together incredibly well and were no trouble.

Our weekend guests, whom Marie had met through a chatroom, were really nice folks and I expect that we'll see a lot more of them.

I have come to the conclusion - albeit in an unscientific manner - that panicky people are a nicer bunch of people than the "normal" types!