I'm broken

[vexvelour]

I understand where you are, as well.

When I was 17 my only parent/relative, my mom, passed away. Since then many things, as mosquito says, many MAJOR things happened. For me it's like a never ending chain of events since I was 17- I'm only 22 but I feel like I'm 70 I've been through so much [censored]. Recently I have come to terms with the past few years events- it's just starting to soak in now. To be perfectly honest, I am a walking talking basketcase at this point in my life.

I am planning on seeing a 'counselor' (I thought they were called therapists?) and am also looking into cognitive therapy. I really hope this helps because I feel like only a fraction of the person I used to be.

I have high hopes for my therapy. Perhaps you could look into it as well, 'counselors' are recognized in the mental health community and most cover a wide variety of problems.

Good luck to you.

[Rasputin]

[ QUOTE ]
About a year ago, I had a series of traumatic events that made me completely break down. I used to be a very strong person character-wise. Not much bothered me and the things that did, I got through. But the bad things kept piling on each other until I couldn't take it anymore and I just gave up... ever since then it feels like I've lost something.

Now, when I have some stress, I can't handle it anymore. I give up and I try to run away from my problems. I don't know if anyone can help me with this. I figure it's worth a shot. At the least, I've written my thoughts down for myself. Has anyone had similar experiences?

[/ QUOTE ]

I have, actually.

I think what you need to do is step back and reassess what you consider to be a problem.

Once you come out the other side, I think you will realize that there are very very very few things that are actually problems and that 99% of the things that trouble us are trivial inconveniences.

Do you have a roof over your head and food on your table?

Is your family healthy and reasonably happy?

Is your ability to support your family unimpaired?

If you're answering yes to it all, then your problems aren't that big and in time you'll come to accept that emotionally.

I suspect you just haven't finished dealing with the original traumatic event.

[Al Schoonmaker]

About an hour ago I was talking to a close friend about the value of posting on forums. He is very negative about posting because he thinks that most people will just put down the poster. I tried -- completely unsuccessfully -- to convince him that forums (our own and at other places) are a great source of help.

At the moment you have gotten eleven replies, and every one of them tried to help you. Some offerred advice. Others shared similar experiences. A few just said that you are not alone (which can be very helpful when you're down).

So what's the lesson?

When you're down or unsure of what to do, tell someone about it. It is far better to talk about these things face to face with a close friend, but, if you don't have someone you can talk to about sensitive subjects, come here (or go to another online forum).

I feel very privileged to be part of the twoplustwo.com "community" because we really do try to help each other.

Thanks for starting a very worthwile discussion.

Al