Well said. I have to chime in on this one, even though Im new to these forums. Firstly, alot of the categories in these forums, I believe are not exclusive. I have suffered from conditions for just over 14 years.
Its origins were infectious and aeitrogenic. Overlapping categories exist such as trigeminal neuralgia, tmj, fibromyalgia, RSD and CRPS/causalgia. I have been told I have all of them. I can relate to your wife and have just posted a quote on the neuropathy forum...."I don't care if I go to hell when I die because I've already been burnt alive whilst on earth"

A person who has endured, suffered, raised children, maintained a household and felt like she is being electrocuted. My spinal cord and esophagus and throat/face/neck ...certain Occipital/ TOS. All these can and are often times co-existent.

As a wife myself, I can tell you that there are probably many things she feels are being "electrocuted" but in order to "not let others down" eg. hubby, children...she endures and suffers further and bites her lips whilst her body is involved in other activities. There may even be some things she will not tell you about because she might be too embarassed.

I applaud you for your concern for your wife and wanting to do whats best for her. I applaud your attitude. My husband told me I was being selfish and that hurt so much.

....sometimes there is only so much the human body and human mind can take and knowing that there is no release and it will just keep coming back, knowing that your life must be lived in a very restricted/restrained way, coming up with new things all the time to keep yourself going, struggling to find one more thing to occupy your mind (when & if it is possible at the time) so you can hang on one more day, one more week... one more month and continue to suffer....well... it is my strong contention that someone who has done all this and fought the good fight and lived well and is ready to move on... has a right to their opinion.

Unfortunately, oftentimes once it becomes a "psychiatric matter" the patient is labelled as "unable to make competent decisions" and you will have the ability to sign away to whatever they want to do to her.

I recall you saying your wife's upper left quadrant is affected...well my upper right quadrant is badly affected, but I have it in the face/neck & other myoclonic issues in the throat. So if you can imagine being electrocuted, being burnt alive and have your throat go spastic on you all at once.
The other thing I have is a spinal cord that burns electrical, I am on Lyrica but no opoids or narcotics... I only take mersondyl when I absolutely must.

If your wife has these electocution symptoms especially in her spinal cord and body, I question the very logistics of ECT, using electricity on someone who is already being electrocuted and burning up...perhaps if some of these psychiatrist would come down with such a condition and someone strap them up & electrocute them...some further insights would be gained and this madness would stop.

Believe me, this type of central pain, is not something you want to experience for long periods of time. I have worked every last remaining brain cell off trying to list all the triggers and the things that help and don't. I will be happy to share but I applaud you for having an open mind, I think only someone who has not seen the very underbelly of the beast within (central pain) would discount your very rational concerns and respect for your wife's humanity. I said to my husband, "They shoot horses don't they"
There is nothing worse than being threatened by the person you need to share with, that they will send you to a psychiatrist if you keep talking like that.; This attitude, I believe is in part due to ignorance (even though he has witnessed me in some pretty awful pain , blackouts, & worse) and in part due to his own fear. I understand this and love him, I also understand that my condition is a drain on the quality of his life and those others around me, nevertheless my decision, if I were to make one, would be based on what is left of the quality of my life.
To put it more succintly, it would be based on how much longer I felt I could continue being "DE-SOULED" by the pain. I go to bed at night & often wish for the same thing & I wake up the following morning... and say damn! I'm still here. Since I've had this "wish" for over a decade and I'm still here , still looking, searching,,...but both hope and despair I threw out the window a long time ago. These Central pain issues are all different in intensity and nature from person to person, so I feel it is pretty useless for anyone other than the person suffering to be the final arbitar...all you can do for her is talk to her about things...anything...show that you still care...THis is the hardest part because of the touch issues and touch is so healing. ..Imagine how that in itself tears her apart...

May the force be with you my friend ...but I wouldn't leave her to the psychiatrists.
Just my 2 cents worth

V