Dear Gaia:

You mentioned the coronavirus: the moment I heard of the coronavirus in Italy, I thought about you and thought of asking you how you were doing (we did not communicate during that time), but didn’t because I figured it’s not going to help, if I inquired.

I like what you wrote in your recent post. From your very first post when you were 18, you wrote about self loathing. My goodness, you’ve been beating yourself up for so long, being aggressive against yourself- no wonder you’ve been suffering for so long. Anyone who is being treated with loathing and aggression suffers, you included.

You wrote: “out there people deal with far worse hardships”- do not underestimate the hardship one suffers when being treated with hatred and aggression, be it from others or from oneself. The latter is worse because the aggressor has 24/7 access to the victim.

anita