What to do
Esther (not her real name) first came to me for therapy to ad- dress her anxiety. For the past three years, she has been the sole caregiver for her husband. She was doing all the work, making the appointments, organizing his meds, and hiring all the right help to the best of her ability. To everyone on the outside she had it all together; perfectly filling the role of a doting wife and caregiver. And while they were never blessed with children of their own, their love was a story for the ages. By the time I had come into the picture, Esther was already considering putting her husband in a memory care facility as the aides in her home were expressing the great difficulty they were having when moving Esther’s husband out of his bed. Esther was absolutely distraught. It had been a source of pride for her that she had been able to keep her husband at home, caring for him with everything she had. But once the realization came that this was no longer enough for him, that she was no longer enough for him, she started having panic attacks. She was plagued by the guilt of sending her husband out of the home they built together. She felt like she was letting him down despite the support and encouragement from everyone Sometimes, she told me, she would be driving to the gro- cery store and her thoughts began to wander. Sometimes it happened in the middle of the night when she couldn’t go back to sleep. Once, it came crashing over her as the aide she had arranged to come over for a few hours canceled at the last minute. In one moment, all her plans needed to change; she wasn’t going to be able to leave the house that day. While Esther’s story is unique to her life and circumstances, her emotions are all too common. We have all experienced moments of stress where our emotions threaten to over- whelm us. But in the past months, our national consciousness has been on edge with unprecedented persistence. Not a day goes by when we are not thinking about the fate of the hos- tages. We’re constantly scrolling for news, worrying about our loved ones in Israel; not to mention the existential fears for the future of US Jewry. All these have taken a toll on our thoughts and time. Naturally, this puts us at a much higher risk for anxiety and panic attacks, which means that the toolkit for dealing with around that this was what he needed. The attacks would come suddenly. all too much When It’s By: Rebbetzin Aliza Blumenthal LCSW
50
DECEMBER/JANUARY 24
The
South Florida
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online