Hello everyone - wanted to introduce myself. My partner recommended this site and it's been a great find. Yesterday I browsed around a bit and found way more hopeful avenues than I could count. I also chuckled to myself over how complex the structure of this forum is and how maybe that's reflective of the underlying thing. I don't know, I find comfort in that.
Anyway, I'm not gonna get too deep into my story other than to say that I have childhood sexual trauma in my past in combination with emotionally abusive parents. The trauma memories were repressed until my early 30's around which time both my psyche and my life exploded. A few years later, I'm now much more sane and happier, but it's up and down, of course. I've only recently accepted that the symptoms, the struggle, I have is best described by the label Complex PTSD - my therapist diagnosed me with this a while ago, but language didn't mean much at the time. I've also recently realized, accepted that I'm not alone in this. And that's immensely comforting and empowering.
I'm really trying to focus on helping others with this as I've run into the brick wall of trying to manage my trauma all myself all the time. If I'm in trauma land exclusively for too long, that's all I see - so my intention is to reach out and help others. To connect that way and relate. To look outside of myself. And so that's why I'm here. To start processing some of this stuff with other humans, with yous, to start trusting, to start lending a helping hand.
Anyway, I'm not gonna get too deep into my story other than to say that I have childhood sexual trauma in my past in combination with emotionally abusive parents. The trauma memories were repressed until my early 30's around which time both my psyche and my life exploded. A few years later, I'm now much more sane and happier, but it's up and down, of course. I've only recently accepted that the symptoms, the struggle, I have is best described by the label Complex PTSD - my therapist diagnosed me with this a while ago, but language didn't mean much at the time. I've also recently realized, accepted that I'm not alone in this. And that's immensely comforting and empowering.
I'm really trying to focus on helping others with this as I've run into the brick wall of trying to manage my trauma all myself all the time. If I'm in trauma land exclusively for too long, that's all I see - so my intention is to reach out and help others. To connect that way and relate. To look outside of myself. And so that's why I'm here. To start processing some of this stuff with other humans, with yous, to start trusting, to start lending a helping hand.