Hi, everyone. Just found this board yesterday, and I am thankful that I did. My husband has dealt with panic attacks for almost 30 years. He goes through really great times and really rough times, and now happens to be one of the rough times.
Normally, I try to help him the best that I can, and, over time, I have learned alot about what he needs. But this time is really tough.
My family is in NC (we live in TX), and my father's health is not well. I have a trip planned for this coming week to visit my family, and my flight leaves on Monday.
Unfortunately, dh is struggling so much that he is almost to the point of asking me not to go. In the past, we have followed a rule that, when he says he absolutely cannot handle me leaving him alone, I won't. It is important that I don't let him down in this respect as he needs to be able to trust me. But this is not going to the grocery store or to work...this is a trip that is very necessary.
I'm really afraid that Monday will come and he will say "You cannot leave me."
So, we are trying all of the things that we would typically try to help eleviate some of his fears (he's getting involved in projects, we're talking about his fear off and on several times a day, etc., etc.), but, to be honest, this is almost the lowest low I've seen him have, and I think he needs more time to work it out than 3 days.
We've called counselors, but he is on disability because of his PD, and we cannot afford a counselor that could meet with him over the weekend. There is a counseling center that works on a sliding scale here, but they won't be able to set up an appointment until Monday morning.
This trip has been planned for several weeks, but, of course, the real fear didn't start setting in until the trip started getting close.
This could quite possibly be my last opportunity to see my father, and the ticket is non-refundable so I couldn't afford to buy a ticket for a later time.
Suggestions?
