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Thursday, August 06, 2009 cabochristine asks

Q: My boyfriend of 1 1/2 years has been suffering from Anxiety disorder for 9 months. When to break?

We are now in a long distance relationship as he moved back with his family. He is finally in treatment and seems to be improving.  However, while he says he wants to continue the relationship, he is only "comfortable" making his life back there. The pain I have been experiencing is no longer manageable without knowing if/when we will have our life back. He cannot answer that. I need to get out of this but don't want to contribute to his issues with a breakup. Or, will it not affect his anxiety? I know he will be heartbroken.  One aspect of his behavior is that he goes out of communication -- sometimes for days -- when he doesn't want to give me an answer he knows will hurt me.  I have spoken to him about it, but he continues to do it.  It is causing me to lose sleep, etc.  When we are together, we resolve things amazingly well.  The issue is definitely exacerbated by the distance as he is able to "hide out".  Up until this started...we had been planning on getting married. I am heartbroken but don't know what else to do other than leave. What if this sets him back or he stops his therapy?

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Eileen Bailey, Health Guide
8/ 6/09 12:24pm

Thank you for your question and welcome to AnxietyConnection.com.

 

You must make decisions in your life based on what is best for you, not whether your decisions will cause more anxiety to your boyfriend. Although this is difficult, you can not be responsible for trying to manage his symptoms by controlling what happens in his life. He needs to be responsible for managing his symptoms. You said he is currently seeking treatment and that is good.

 

Whether or not you decide to end the relationship needs to be up to you.

 

Eileen

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By cabochristine— Last Modified: 12/26/10, First Published: 08/06/09