Lyn has partnered up for the second time. Her first marriage was extremely happy – except that her husband drank until he finally became an alcoholic. Miserable, Lyn put up with the situation for years hoping he would change, but as in many cases, he didn’t. The marriage failed.
Desperate for a new man, Lyn went on the singles scene in her early 40s. Unfortunately she met up with Anthony, a seeming kind and affable man just five years older than her. But he had already been married three times before and had children to two of these women. He did not play an active part in his children’s lives. This should have been a warning sign right from the very beginning. But Lyn was desperate and she moved in with him.
Anthony won’t marry Lyn, and Lyn is angry because to her way of thinking, if he married the others, why couldn’t he marry her. A good point indeed. But worse was to come. Anthony’s seemingly caring nature stemmed from his deep belief in God, something that Lyn felt comfortable with. Only trouble was, Anthony hated just about anybody who hated Jesus, and that is not Jesus’ message at all. Anthony particularly hated Jews and believed they were in the process of taking over the world.
This is when the trouble really began because it became obvious that Anthony was suffering from paranoid delusions. He believed that atheists, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and any and all other religions (note Buddhism is not strictly a religion) were all evil and their sole intent was to wipe out Christianity.
Then there was the fervent believe in aliens, government conspiracy theories, even that his telephone and internet were being tapped. Homosexuals were strictly banned from his life even though he had unwittingly been done kind deeds by many of them.
Lyn was in denial about Anthony’s antics because she could not cope with the failure of a second marriage. She even allowed Anthony to remove her two daughters from her home because he wanted her all to herself. Lyn takes antidepressants on a daily basis and cannot come off them and suffers from mild anxiety attacks. She is constantly monitored during her daily movements by this man. She works, he stays in her home by day. At some point, this woman must break.
We will look at the incidence of paranoia in coming articles and examine how the latter is a feature of many mental illnesses and needs to be monitored carefully in order to determine which illness the sufferer has and therefore how, and if, it can be treated.
Meanwhile, Lyn is unable to extract herself from the relationship because of the extreme hold this man has over her. She needs counseling and the support of her family to help her out of this situation.
Contact Beth McHugh for further assistance regarding this issue.
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