Messages

Sounds like a very stressful situation. Just want you to know you are heard.

Thank you

I have been an anxious, cranky mess since moving back home. It's only temporary but still. My parents are just so negative. Nothing is good enough for my F. I noticed I feel very insecure now and I didn't when I was at school. Perhaps it's because they're always pointing out everything we don't have, without doing anything to fix it. I have developed an irrational fear that my bf is going to leave me because I've been anxious and cranky lately. I know it's irrational but I just can't shake it. He has said nothing to make me feel this way, this is all me. He keeps reassuring me that this will pass and I've just cracked after being under so much stress for so long without any sort of break or vacation. He has even agreed to a beach getaway with me, so like I said this is super irrational. I've been having trouble sleeping too with constant nightmares...I feel like a helpless teenager again and it's so difficult seeing my friends on social media going on elaborate vacations and I'm stuck at home with my negative FOO. I just hate being in a place where displaying distress is taken as a personal attack, I'm not allowed to have a bad day and am expected to be happy 24/7 and if I'm not then I'm ungrateful. I guess it's just harder going back now that I've had my freedom for so long...if you made it this far, thank you for listening to me vent

Hi Little Birdy, I'm a recovering people pleaser too, although I was never actually that pleasing! Just tried waaaay too  hard.

I remember getting a bit obsessive over a colleague who was quite outgoing and cool but basically snubbed me from her first day.
She was so confident though, I desperately craved her approval despite disliking her intensely.
For some reason, I just  wasn't able to make the judgment that she was not important to me, and therefore I only needed to be civil.
Winning her approval took on this huge significance for me; the conflicting emotions I felt were so intense, over this person I barely knew!

I think she must have reminded me in some ways of my sister, who made me hustle for her approval all through our childhood.
My sister dominated me so much that I was unable to actually make judgments for myself; I was so reliant on my sister interpreting and labelling the world for me.
Not only was I then attracted to more dominant people, but I was unable to judge situations for myself and respond accordingly.

Are you a fawn type? I'm more of a freeze type usually, but in the workplace, I get overwhelmed and I think I can be pretty erratic in how I respond.
I think I tend to fawn in the face of perceived potential rejection, with icky results.

I am unfamiliar as to what these terms mean. Yeah, idk who these people remind me of, perhaps I should think on it a bit.

I guess you could say I'm a people pleaser, it's a symptom I've been fighting. When someone doesn't like me, I obsess over them. In my childhood, I would try so hard to get people who clearly did not like me to be my friend. Obviously, that never ended well. It usually lead me to get bullied and then wonder why everyone hated me. I don't do that anymore. Now, if someone doesn't like me, I just sit around and wonder why. It bothers me so much. I also don't handle it well when friendships don't work out, more specifically when their mental illness gets the best of them. I feel like I've lost one too many friends this way in my young adult years already and it makes me really sad.

Thank you!! I think sharing general feelings while not getting to specific is a great idea, this way I can let him know what's going on without overwhelming him.

*****Tw!! I'm going to go into detail about sexual/emotional abuse in this post!!****


With my ex, he never did anything explicit like pinning me down and forcing me to do anything. He would pressure me in a sense, by rewarding me with love and attention if I did what he wanted, and being cold and insulting if I didn't. So he claimed to be great with constent and taking no for an answer but he really wasn't. He made me believe there was something physically wrong with me because sex always hurt, but now I know I just never truly wanted to because with my new partner I have no problems.

I just don't like to think I was ever sexually abused but my mind keeps coming back to it. I'm having trouble finding anything about it online, they all say stuff about incest or rape which is not what this is. Because technically I did consent even though I truly didn't want to. Like, in the end of our relationship, the only time he was nice to me and made me feel valued was when he was between me legs. He would also constantly belittle me for not wanting to do oral  but I would try to make him happy but he would only insult me the whole time so it made it even worst.

Now with my new partner I don't want to do it at all and he's ok with that. Doesn't even bring it up at all, just says if I ever change my mind we can try it but if not that's perfectly fine. Just the thought of it repulses me now, I just get flashbacks to my ex pressuring me. Also, anything that we just for my pleasure and that he got nothing out of he treated as boring and annoying. Was that sexual abuse, or emotional abuse that carried over into the bedroom, or both?? 

I have this relatively new partner, and he is so amazing, so sweet. He has never been abused so I try to avoid talking about my past traumas I just feel like it's IMPOSSIBLE to not talk about it when it's basically always running in the back of my mind. He swears up and down that me talking about it doesn't bother him and he doesn't mind it if it helps me to get it out of my system, I just don't want to over burden him. I have a therapist, and I get all of my darkest thoughts out there, but still. I don't want him to feel drained by me, I've been on the receiving end of these things many times and it's not fun. I hate that this happened, I just wanna go back in time and fix everything so that I wouldn't have this today. But I do and I want him to know what's going on with me but also don't want to have our time together be too negative. Ugh! Help 

I feel like a soda bottle with a closed lid that someone shook and I just can't open the cap. It's like there's something blocking me from expressing or feeling my emotions and it's so frustrated. I used to get so uncomfortable when people would cry around me but now I just feel jealous that they can let out their emotions so easily. I'm just mad at the world and I hate this, I feel like I have no control over my life I want to move out but I'm still a student and cannot afford rent yet. It's like I'm an adult but still a glorified teenager. I just want to be able to heal fully but I can't do that when I'm constantly with my FOO. When my friends get excited to go home for breaks I just can't relate. i just want to feel my feelings I want to be a happy adult, and I hate the thought of having to wait a year or more. And I'm also angry that so many mental health professionals didn't notice that my ex was gaslighting me. He drove me so crazy I was nearly hospitalized. He made me believe I was crazy and they went along with it!! The second we broke up I felt more sane than I had in a long time. I'm angry I have to live with my FOO, angry I can't seem to find a good therapist, mad at the world in general, and I just don't know what to do with all this anger!! I want to cry it all out!! And I always feel guilty when I rant to my partner because I know he doesn't know what to say and he has such a big heart and I need therapy and I don't always want to dump negativity on him because he didn't make this mess so he shouldn't have to clean it. But hey, you guys listen and I'm so greatful this site exists!! See I feel guilty about being negative so now I'm ending this post with something positive!! And that's what this site is for!!! Expressing feelings!!  UGH!!!! 

Learning to feel my emotions has been so hard, but so worth it! I feel like I'm so hard on myself for feeling negative emotions. I guess lately what I've been struggling with is figuring out what is irrational and what is a feeling most would feel. After being gaslit for so many years and being made to feel like I'm crazy it's so freeing to realize that my feelings have a purpose, negative feelings tell me that something is wrong and I need to listen to it. Also, after spending so much of my life miserable beyond belief, I'm so scared of being miserable for the rest of my life like my mom was so I've been thinking 10 years ahead and I'm aware most don't do that. I'm just having trouble telling what is rational and what isn't and what I should worry about and what I shouldn't, you know?

I don't cry easily, and I get really uncomfortable when other people cry, I just don't know what to do. I try to be comforting but in my mind I hope they'll stop because I feel that uncomfortable by it.  Also I hate it when people see me cry, I feel uncomfortable and I have shooed people away because I can't calm myself down unless I'm alone. I don't even know what's normal, I wish I could just let it all out like other people can you know?

I never know what to say to people when they say "oh but why don't you live at home for a few more years and save money what's the rush?" You all know damn well what the rush is. For my own health and safety living at home is not a good option. Yes, I will have less money but to me a peace of mind knowing I'm safer in my own little place is priceless. I always feel like I never wanna talk about the real reason I'm so antsy to leave and it makes me feel awkward and like I dont know what to say and I feel like they see me as...well I'm not even sure how to put it into words...spoiled..? Foolish..? I don't even know

I live in the states, and everyone within a reasonable driving distance that specializes in trauma is not taking new patients, or never even bothered to call back. This site is helpful for sure but I know I need actual therapy. I want to be a good parent someday, and I also want to make sure I don't take my frustrations out on my partner or be too negative and drag them down with me. This is MY battle, not his. I'm almost completely moved out and I'm ready to begin healing but I can't seem to find anyone to help me. I HATE my insurance I hate that my F put me in this position where we have a low income and therefore don't have access to many good doctors. I feel like help is just out of reach. My partner has been reassuring me that I'm trying my best but it still makes me wanna throw my phone out the window every time the calls go to voicemail or I get a voicemail saying they're sorry but they're full. I have a few more years until I graduate and get better insurance but until then I'm stuck. I'm so sick of the health problems this has caused, I'm just sick of being sick!! I don't want to be sick anymore I'm tired of self pity I want to just move on. I've lost so many years I'll never get back and I don't want to lose any more.

Just found out that my little sister who is much younger than me (we don't live together) has PTSD as well. I have been through so much over the years but I would always look at her sweet little face and would always hope that nothing bad would ever happen to her. She lives kinda far so I know there isn't much I can do. I just feel so sad... I never wanted her to experience this...sure it's not from abuse (that I know of anyways...we all know no one knows what goes on behind closed doors..) but still it's an awful thing to have to go through. I told her I love her and that I'll always answer the phone no matter what time of day but I don't know if she'll actually call, she's at the stubborn teenager age. I'm just so sad, I never wanted this for her and I dont like seeing her in pain like this.

Oh my, first and foremost good for you for speaking up for yourself and going to the police! That must not have been easy to do. As for trusting myself and others, it has NOT been easy. One thing I've been doing is learning to listen to my emotions and be ok with them. Trusting others will become easier after you learn to trust yourself. I've noticed in my past that I've gotten myself into trouble when my intuition told me not to associate myself with someone and I convinced myself that my feelings weren't valid when they infact were. Cutting people off who seem toxic from day one seemed to have help so much and now the people in my life are so amazing as compared to the people I surrounded myself with a few years ago.

Can anyone else relate to always feeling like you have to be perfect all the time? I've noticed lately that even though I am out of my toxic environment, I still tend to take on far more responsibility than I can handle. Part of me thinks it's because growing up I was functioning while being incredibly stressed all the time and it's all I've ever known. Also, I and I'm sure everyone like me would be brutally punished for making a simple mistake of a typical child. I would try to be as perfect as possible to avoid it but in time I learned that I could never be perfect enough for my FOO. I don't want to be like this, I'm so stressed and it's not healthy at all. I just don't know what to do. I'm in therapy but I feel like I need so much more help than I'm getting and it's frustrating. Sorry if that was all over the place.