Im sorry everything is so rough right now. I going to go ahead and give this a guess...but the reason he seems despondent is that he is trying to mentally leave his body and overcome the pain...thats why when you try to talk to him he says he just cant block it out anymore and thats exactly why he is so isolated. His back is probably really excruiating and a humans way of dealing with it is trying to turn inward and fix it..even though its not working. I have pain issues and thats how i deal with it...so we are all different but id figure id give it shot to explain. He is probably depressed cause its not getting better...he cant get over it himself...and probably like men (sorry men if your reading this and dont like this) they think if they cant handle the pain they are less manly...which is definitely not true...if i were you i would let him know you were there but i would also back off...say if you need to talk or need anything im here and i support you. Otherwise kinda back off cause if you dont that might increase his feelings of feeling like he cant take care of it himself. Im not sure about the whole doctor thing...im alittle confused on that ...but perhaps you can go back to Dr. X. explain the situation and see what he recommends and dont even bother with his work doctor. Then ask Dr. X if he has any ideas how to go about workmans comp or if he can write orders on what your husband can and cannot do. If he writes an order saying that this is a work related injury and this is what happened and this what needs done then send it in to your insurance agency and they will take it from there. Im not real good on knowing what to do though about work and insurance stuff though that would be an option id think. Good luck! Sending many wishes of good health to your husband AND you!!!!