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Mental Health (Expert Forum)
Feeling Stress, Anxiety, Sexual Dysfunction, Lack of Energy, etc
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD) , bipolar disorder , dementia , electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) , learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) , panic , personality disorders, phobias , post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , schizophrenia , stress , transitions, and work problems.
Feeling Stress, Anxiety, Sexual Dysfunction, Lack of Energy, etc
by cognitive77, Oct 22, 2009 02:31PM
My wife has had migraines (roughly once a month?) since she was 13-14. At that time she was prescribed birth control to medicate the migraines. This seemed to help marginally. These migraines were severe enough to induce vomiting, sensitivity to light, and put her in bed for hours. Sometime in 2001 her mother was in a car accident and passed away. She was diagnosed with PTSD for short time but was later "released" from seeing her psychologist. For the past several years she's shown multiple symptoms including: irritability, feeling tired/exhausted, stressed, anxiety. To me it seems like she's lost her sense to have fun or enjoy life. Her exact words are "I just feel like I'm constantly stressed out and tired. Like stuff never ends. It's always something". She's experienced a decreased libido and it actually physically pains her when we do have sex. It's been two weeks now since she's come off of birth control since we both read that sexual dysfunction can be caused from being on birth control. We had a very healthy sexual lifestyle for the first several years. We've also switched to a natural type condom (to help with her pain), but that doesn't help much. We've read quite a bit of feedback online that the birth control Yaz, can cause some of these symptoms (Anxiety, Stress) that could be confused with a mental disorder. We recently saw a neurologist who has prescribed topamax for her migraines, and it seems to be helping quite a bit.
She went to see her physician yesterday and she prescribed Wellbutrin. I firmly believe that her feelings of stress are perceived and not real. She has a good secure job, we're financially secure, own our own home and are both relatively healthy. She has made the comment that she feels as though she's fallen out of touch with one of her best friends. She doesn't have much structure/support in regards to her immediate family (mother/deceased, father/deadbeat, brother/deadbeat).
She went to see her physician yesterday and she prescribed Wellbutrin. I firmly believe that her feelings of stress are perceived and not real. She has a good secure job, we're financially secure, own our own home and are both relatively healthy. She has made the comment that she feels as though she's fallen out of touch with one of her best friends. She doesn't have much structure/support in regards to her immediate family (mother/deceased, father/deadbeat, brother/deadbeat).
Doctor's Answer
by Roger Gould, M.D., Oct 24, 2009 08:34AM
, Oct 24, 2009 08:34AMTo: cognitive77
I strongly recommend that your wife start working again with a psychotherapist who can help her get to the source of her issues. Medication alone for this is not enough although it can help with some of the symptoms...she has to look within and sort things out..and now is a good time in life for her to do that...
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It almost feels as though you are judging your wife for feeling this way. Are you giving her enough emotional space to de-stress?
The symptoms you describe can occur when one is feeling extremely stressed, overwhelmed and powerless.
If your wife's doctor excluded physical causes it's possible she came to the conclusion that your wife is depressed.
Libido can also decrease with low mood. As can social interaction.
Perhaps her family situation has affected her? It may also have forced her to confront some difficult life questions. ??
Maybe your wife could benefit from psychotherapy again. She may also need to consider taking time off work, etc.