Dear Rich:

You wrote that you are not looking for sympathy, someone to feel sorry for you- but you do deserve empathy because you are trying so hard and life is so difficult for you, and has been difficult for a long, long time. You mentioned the word “victim”, expressing not wanting to think of yourself as such, but like many of us, you are a victim of other people’s wrong doings, your father for one, and you are a victim of your mother not being available to comfort you because she is “in a constant crisis”. And you are a victim of the person who stole your bike.

My suggestion is that you practice self-empathy, that you remove from your life anything exhausting that can be removed. You need a relief, a removal of responsibilities taken on. Perhaps one is attending to your in-a-constant-crisis mother..

anita