Dear Cat:

You are very welcome.

Regarding your question to me, regarding, “I was too scared and too scattered to do what needed to be done”- meaning, because I was severely anxious, afraid on an ongoing basis, I was also numb, or dissociated on an ongoing basis. And so, I didn’t recognize dangerous situations, didn’t distinguish between dangerous situations and not-dangerous situations. I experienced all of them, more or less, as dangerous. And so, I crossed a busy street without looking because I wasn’t alarmed, didn’t recognize crossing a busy street as dangerous. Another example, I lived with a heavy drug user who kept me up at nights. I had a car accident one day after many sleepless nights. I wasn’t alarmed by the dangerous living situation at the time.

What needed to be done, in these examples: crossing the street cautiously when safe to do so in the first example, and moving out ASAP in the second example.

You wrote: “Tonight I also got a message from my sister saying she was really low etc. (again)… I tried to remain professional and support her that way.”

I don’t understand “professional”- what do you mean by it?

anita