It is important to distinguish between stress that is related to medical conditions such as being in a wheelchair or being physically ill and conditions that are related to selfishness, ignorance, meanness, and such to the point of abuse of a spouse. One can be tolerated with medication and the other requires positive action to protect the health of the abused. I chose to stay in a broken marriage for fifty years and survived the problem and have been successfully healing for fifteen years. But the journey is very long to find peace late in life. It was a choice for me and I used little medication to cope. I think when my spouse was ill and we knew he would not live long, I chose to stay "on the job" because I couldn't abandon another human being with no care and he couldn't care very well for himself. It is a choice in life.
My consequences have been good in the end. It is the pandemic that makes me so lonely. Dorisena