[medicnh]

Hello all,

So I am adressing the idea of a psychiatrist to my wife who has OCD that is ruining our marriage. Needless to say she is not find of the idea and doesnt want people to think she's crazy. Advice is welcome. should I deliver an ultimatum to save our marriage or ?

[Typo]

I"m not sure an ultimatium is a good idea, it may pressure her to make a decison, if she chooses the psychaitrist she could end up resenting you for it, if she chooses divorce it may put both of you in a rough state, I would say only choose the ultimate if all else fails

Maybe marriage counseling instead? Or an intervention by family and friends? Or explain to her you don't think she is crazy but just needs help, mental health is just as important as physical health and seeing a psychatrist is like seeing a general practioner, expcept for illness you cant' see with x-rays or blood tests. sometimes people are afraid of what they don't understand, do research to inform her and help battle her fear.

Another idea, have you tried showing her the destructive effect her behavior is having on your marriage and her?

I hope all works out medicnh and keep us updated on how things go.

Best Wishes
Typo

[medicnh]

I really didnt want to give her an ultimatum and I definitely dont want to divorce her. Youll be glad to know that forturnately she has agreed to see the psychiatrist. Wish me luck and hope this goes well. I need to know that this is not our problem or if it is the problem how do we fix it.

Thx for all the post...

[sunrise]

Why did you decide a psychiatrist might be helpful? Isn't it usually a psychologist or therapist who helps people with OCD? Hopefully this psychiatrist can assess the situation, tell your wife her options, and encourage her to get appropriate help, if needed.

I really didnt want to give her an ultimatum and I definitely dont want to divorce her.

An ultimatum would be hard to take, but sometimes people need to know how seriously their problems are impacting other people. It sounds like you got her attention with this, and really your ultimatum was a call for help with the marriage. It sounds like you really want the marriage to work.

Best of luck to you and your wife. Check back, OK?

Good luck, medicnh.

[Perna]

Your thoughts about a psychiatrist are good, medicnh; I was just reading a novel where a major character has OCD :-) and another friend got a referral to a psychiatrist for it, saying there were good medical help now for OCD. I found this:

http://www.brainphysics.com/medications.php

But I think a psychiatrist may be able to help her, at least initially, with her OCD but don't know if that will help the marriage; I would also do a bit of marriage counseling as Typo suggests. Your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in the marriage are just as important as any of hers.