Hi David

I think it’s good that you understand what you want in a relationship now. I hope you can build on this and have a healthy relationship in the future.

Can you explain a little more about feeling like you can’t be yourself around others?

Sometimes it can be difficult for people to identify if their parents did a good job or not.

Did your parents yell or scold you? We’re there any problems with alcohol use? Was there any violence at home? Did they speak to you kindly and let you know that you are loved? Were your parents faithful to each other? Did you ever feel lonely and wish they spent more time with you?

That being said, trauma can come from anywhere. It doesn’t have to come from parents. If you are bullied a lot at school. Or there was someone else in your life that treat you poorly?

@anita

Thank you for the information! I will have to do more research about the relationship between anger and pain.

One thing that I am aware of is that anger increases pain sensitivity. I read that it contributes to heart and breathing problems too. I have breathing problems and a high heart rate. So hopefully addressing this issue will help with that.

I have been practicing meditation on and off for many years. After learning that a lot of psychology is based on Buddhism I have been learning about it and committing to meditation regularly.

Communicating with you has been helping because it has focused my attention on the core issue. Whereas before it was unfocused and I was hyper vigilant looking for signs of abuse everywhere. I have been able to communicate better in arguments, they are less frequent and shorter now.

I think I’m finally ready to do some of the work that was unfinished in therapy.

I’m not entirely sure what I felt for my mother when she was weak and frail. There were a lot of complicated feelings. Disgust, pity, she was pathetic. She was a very sick woman mentally.

Yet, when she was starving herself to death in the hospital I told her that I would refuse to visit her if she didn’t start eating.

It was hard to cut off from her completely. It took a couple of years. Part of me wanted her to change so I could forgive her and continue the relationship. How was it for you when you cut contact with your mother?

@anita

Thank you for your understanding!

I hope that connecting and expressing my anger will improve my mental health. If it help with chronic pain that would be a bonus.

In my mind, this is all very present at the moment. If that makes sense? I’m referring to my last memories of her as a teenager vs my memories of her when I was a child. As I said, there were dramatic differences between how she used to be compared to what she became. As a child I saw her as a monster and was terrified of her. In my last memory of her in person, she didn’t inspire fear, instead I pitied her.

@anita

Apologies for the delayed reply and for not letting you know when I’d be available. My life is a quite chaotic at the moment. I will do my best to estimate what is going on when I can. It won’t always be accurate. I will always do my best to return when I’m able.

My heart goes out to you dealing with those triggers on a daily basis. I understand what it is like to need a break from an abusive person. Thank you for clarifying the various factors that adversely affected your ability to maintain your boundaries.

For me, whilst I instinctively emotionally felt harmful behaviours were wrong. I was falsely conditioned to believe that certain behaviours were normal and accept them. For a large part of my life I accepted verbal abuse, simply because it wasn’t physical or sexual abuse.

I am only now beginning to connect to anger that I had repressed for decades. It was not safe for me to feel anger as a child, any attempt to defend myself worsened the abuse so I often “converted” those emotions to sadness. Even in therapy, I was unable to talk to a chair while imagining my mother was in it.

I think the memory of my mother from when I was young is very different from the reality of how she is now. I managed to confront her once in my late teens, but she was a shadow of her former self. I only confronted her because she stole from another family member.

Thank you for your patience and kindness, it is much appreciated.

Hi Jill

I’m sorry for what happened. I don’t think it was meaningless, just not what you thought. I doubt you’ll get any answers out of him sadly.

At the moment he sounds like a very sick man. I expect that if his mental health issues hadn’t severely relapsed he would probably still be with you and hiding his marriage.

It might hurt to know the truth. But it is the truth.

It might not help him to express your feelings. But it might help you. How you choose to express your feelings and with whom, that is up to you. If you don’t want to talk to him, you could write a letter and include all of the things you wish that you could say.

@anita

Thank you for your patience Anita!

It’s strange in a good way, someone sharing their similar experiences from another side of the world. I enjoy sharing things with you as I feel there is a deep level of understanding. When I was younger I believed that no one understood what I was going through. As an adult, I see that many people experience many painful experiences. By the time that we are adults, very few of us have no experience with trauma. I am always surprised when I meet a rare person with no traumatic experiences.

Apologies for misunderstanding. It’s hard for me to comprehend because I’m not at that stage.

This love for her does not mean that she deserves it from me, or that she is not who she is. This love means that I was a loving girl in the very beginning of my life.

It’s wonderful to see you speak about yourself so compassionately. You are indeed a loving compassionate woman.

My mother also spoke badly about men. Sometimes, I think that can set up a frame for expecting and accepting poor behaviour while we’re in relationships? What do you think?

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Helcat.

@HoneyBlossom

How are you feeling after your surgery? I hope you’re still resting a lot!

You and a strong and insightful woman too!

I find it difficult to go into details about what happened because that triggers more memories. I don’t really say much about what happened other than in general terms in passing.

Your strategy to talk about  your emotions and creating psychological distance sounds like a good coping strategy.

Please let me know if there’s anything I can alter in communication to make you feel more comfortable.

It’s horrible that your parents told you that you were unwanted. You didn’t deserve that and no one should make their children feel like they’re not good or deserving.

I’m glad that you have some peace now and that you have control over who comes in and out of your life!