Yes. The problem is you go back to zero sleep and anxiety. If you can solve sleep some other way, there are no withdrawal symptoms.
Problem with this is that it 1) works, 2) resistance is developed fast 3) you are back to square zero very soon. So it has to be taken in small doses with long intervals, when anxiety is at its worse.
It is not addictive as other drugs, most countries even sell it without prescription.
I had to deal with something similar, and I think I would add a few practical advices (outside of my other advice):
- if psychotherapy does now work in first 3 months, than problem is somewhere else
- check sugar levels, diabetes.. it is often misdiagnosed with psychiatric problems
- if she has paralyzing fear, you should talk to good psychiatrist and get medication. Be careful what motivations he/she has, he might try to sell you expensive doses for long term.
- we had good experience with psychiatrist outside US. Most consulting was over skype
- MRI, blood test... usual general tests. Anxiety can be result of infection, head concussion...
- Phenibut is quick & cheap solution to anxiety and sleep problems. No side effects, but you develop resistance fast, so it can be used only once a week. It takes edge-off before proper solution is found.
I was married to such person for 8 years. I physically aged 40 years, and I got gray hair.
My best advice is to get out NOW if you can. Maybe things are working out now, but you are barely floating. Add normal family life into picture: children, job loss, some injury, any sort of accident... and you will sink to bottom faster than a stone.
There is distortion between reality presented by left-leaning media and day-to-day reality. I do not want to go into specific and start flamewar (I am MRA). But from media it looks like America is medieval country with slavery, huge violence and zero civil rights.
> A human welder today earns around $25 per hour (including benefits), while the equivalent operating cost per hour for a robot is around $8 when installation, maintenance, and the operating costs of all hardware, software, and peripherals are amortized over a five-year depreciation period.
So human cost does not include total cost, just labour. Comparable cost would be around $100