His anxiety nearly ruined our marriage My husband and I are in our early 60s and it is a second marriage for us both. He suffers from chronic anxiety and has done so for most of his life. For a long time, he refused to get help or to recognise that it was a problem for me as well as him and it put a terrible strain on our marriage. It is very draining living with someone who is constantly anxious. It has sometimes made it difficult to see friends. Any changes to our routine were often met with panic. More than once, I was on the point of leaving him. Eventually, he agreed to get help, but after a lengthy period of working through personal traumas with a psychologist, he still struggled with anxious feelings. Recently, though, it appeared that there is a strong likelihood he is on the autism spectrum. He is now awaiting formal diagnosis, which could take up to 18 months. Of course, this condition was much less recognised when he was young. We were told that anxiety often masks autism, which in my husband’s case has proved difficult to uncover even with professional help. Since learning of this we have made several changes to the way we live and things are constantly improving. It is difficult when someone is unwilling to help themselves and I am writing because I hope that our story will encourage other readers to get professional help rather than struggling on and perhaps risking a marriage.