I am in the middle of a contested divorce in Maryland. My wife of almost 20 years has been "depressed" for many of those years. I supported her emotionally and financially throughout her illness. Then, through a series of eye-opening marital moments, I came to the firm conclusion that depression no longer described her behavior adequately. She had become willfully negligent and habitually lazy, using depression as a cover to avoid doing anything she didn't want to do. That's when I left.
She has been seeing the same psychiatrist (MD) for the duration of her depression, and he now claims that she is "treatment resistent". She takes a large cocktail of depression and other medications prescribed by him. I have consulted a number of other mental health professionals on my own. The consensus is that truly depressed people should have little energy to fight and complain, yet my wife did this constantly. She should also have little energy for anyone else, regardless of who they are. There is also consensus that she has given up trying to get better.
I provide this context because she claims that her depression is a disability that prevents her from working and wants permanent alimony
, and I intend to fight it. She has not worked in many years due to her "depression", and now claims that she can't. She claims to have no energy or stamina. She sleeps a lot. She always looks sad. Classic depression symptoms, yes, but...
She generates energy and enthusiam selectively, usually when it involves our children or her parents or siblings. For them she can do almost anything. She manages her household much more effectively since I left. She volunteers at church, at my boy's high school, and for the Boy Scouts, and handles these duties just fine.
So why can't she be responsible enough to work, and learn to support herself? Of course I'll pay alimony untill she gets on her feet. But not forever. How do I fight her so-called "disability" and the permanent alimony she is seeking?
She has been seeing the same psychiatrist (MD) for the duration of her depression, and he now claims that she is "treatment resistent". She takes a large cocktail of depression and other medications prescribed by him. I have consulted a number of other mental health professionals on my own. The consensus is that truly depressed people should have little energy to fight and complain, yet my wife did this constantly. She should also have little energy for anyone else, regardless of who they are. There is also consensus that she has given up trying to get better.
I provide this context because she claims that her depression is a disability that prevents her from working and wants permanent alimony
, and I intend to fight it. She has not worked in many years due to her "depression", and now claims that she can't. She claims to have no energy or stamina. She sleeps a lot. She always looks sad. Classic depression symptoms, yes, but...She generates energy and enthusiam selectively, usually when it involves our children or her parents or siblings. For them she can do almost anything. She manages her household much more effectively since I left. She volunteers at church, at my boy's high school, and for the Boy Scouts, and handles these duties just fine.
So why can't she be responsible enough to work, and learn to support herself? Of course I'll pay alimony untill she gets on her feet. But not forever. How do I fight her so-called "disability" and the permanent alimony she is seeking?
