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Desperately need support and ideas to get thru life these days

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  • #81114
    iwatsu
    Participant

    I am really in a dark place physically, emotionally and spiritually. It hasn’t always been this way — just until things got really difficult within the last 9 months.

    I need advice, encouragement and resources to help me deal with this low point in my life. I’m starting to give up on holding it all together at work and home. I have a wonderful husband of 11 years and he has become my metaphorical punching bag for all of my pent up anger, frustration and anxiety. I need help because I love him dearly and I can’t control myself from screaming and throwing fits about absolutely nothing important!

    I’m 41 and received an injury that has not healed through treatment and therapies for 6 months. Sometimes the pain isn’t horrible and other times it is excruciating.. so much so that I turn to drinking excessively for relief. (In addition to hot and cold compresses, physical therapy, acupuncture, massage and chiropractic care.) All of this medical treatment is costing me a fortune, even with health insurance… many of the alternative options are not covered so I have to pay for it from my own pocket.

    I’ve been seeing a therapist for 5 years to help me cope with occasional depression and used to take medication for several years until I was able to wean myself off of them and focus more on mindfulness, meditation, serving others and practicing gratitude.

    Recently, a friend said that we can no longer speak to each other because his new girlfriend is jealous and very angry that he and I got intimate (one time, which I greatly regret) before they started dating. I don’t know why he felt the need to tell her about such a private mistake that we both agreed would never happen again and that we would not tell others about. (I did tell my husband and he forgave me and we worked through some issues that we really needed to communicate about.)

    Now, adding emotional pain of “losing” a friend to my physical pain — I went back to my therapist and psych dr about going back on medication for anxiety/stress/depression… and their response was that they DON’T want me to rely on meds to deal with things. They are concerned that I am using pills instead of dealing with everything in a more healthy way. I was the one who told them 3 years ago that I no longer needed the meds!!! It’s not like I enjoy taking pharmaceuticals just for the fun of it, especially when it caused me to gain 15-20 lbs!!!

    I’m going to visit a new office for a different psych and therapist. I feel that sometimes being “good and healthy” with a positive attitude just isn’t enough to get through each day. I’m crying in my office everyday. I feel isolated because I work with a bunch of unhealthy, untrustworthy negative drama queens. I just do my work and keep my door closed. I eat alone each day because everyone here is such a “workaholic” never taking breaks but yet always having time to gossip.

    I’ve basically stopped eating and exercising. When I do eat, it’s junk and I don’t care. I’m tired of feeling like I have do do everything on my own. I feel betrayed by my doctors not supporting me when the meds have helped me in the past (during emotional trauma of getting laid off from my job when the economy took a dive). I feel frustrated that even though I pay for health insurance, nothing I need is covered. I’m hurt that my friend chose a new girlfriend over me (but I understand why from her insecure perspective).

    I just want to stop hurting all of the time. I just want someone to listen and pretend to care that what I’m going through matters. I have so many blessings in my life, but I just can’t control my negative and blaming thoughts anymore. Any and all advice and resources are welcomed. I could really use some compassionate advice. I’m so tired of holding it all together, anymore. I’m ready to let go.

    #81131
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear iwatsu:

    To summarize what I just read (so to help me process the information), you are married for 11 years. Sometime during the marriage you had a one time sexual affair with a male friend. You told about it to your husband and he forgave you. You continued your friendship with that male friend until he told you his new gf was jealous and you feel betrayed by that friend. You have suffered from depression in the last five years, took psych meds, weaned yourself off them using mindfulness, meditation and gratitude as skills to manage. Six months ago you received a physical injury that occasionally causes you excruciating pain. You recently searched psych meds but was refused and now you are about to see new drs in search for prescription. SInce the injury, six months ago you’ve been using your husband as a metaphorical punching bag. You are not enjoying your co workers who are into drama and gossiping.

    Questions: What are the “negative and blaming thoughts” you mentioned? Can you list a few of the most common, repeating ones? Who or what are you blaming?

    What does “metaphorical punching bag” means?

    What do you think is the future of healing, hopefully of your physical injury? What is it?

    Looking forward to your reply…
    anita

    #81142
    iwatsu
    Participant

    Thank you, anita. I have always appreciated reading your comments online and found them to be very insightful. Thank you for taking the time to make me really think about my situation.

    Common “negative and blaming thoughts” — I blame myself for being too chicken to leave a job I hate because all of the available jobs pay half as much without as much vacation time. I blame my husband for not wanting to even considering moving somewhere else for a better job and climate. I blame policymakers for making life so simple to those who don’t work by giving them handouts. I worked 3 jobs for much of my life to get through school and buy a home. Decided that no, we can’t afford children, nor would we have ample time to love and care for them properly. I blame girlfriends who are too busy having babies and raising teens that they can’t even respond to texts asking them how they are doing and if they would like to do something. I blame the dregs of society that have made it so difficult to get prescriptions for my allergies because of meth addicts. I blame heroin users for the fact that it’s impossible to get 2 or 3 painkillers when ibuprofen just isn’t cutting it.

    I’m an only child. I am childfree by choice. My life has always been a lonely road where I fought tough battles and learned a lot to achieve my goals. I had a physically abusive mother. She currently loves to brag about how she goes to church every Sunday and it makes me so angry that she is such a hypocrite. Growing up alone and with absent working parents (latchkey) and being left with a caregiver whose husband was a pedophile…. it really made life difficult in building friendships and trusting relationships. It made me hate my mother even more and it helped shape my decision to never have a child that I could possibly treat in such a poor manner.

    I love my husband more than anyone in the universe. I met him when I was 30 and never thought I would ever marry anyone. There is nothing I would not do for him. He is, unfortunately, the only one around at home when I can let my guard down and release all of the anger and frustration from not having any sense of control in my life. Hence, he is my metaphorical punching bag. He becomes the target of my unreasonable screaming and crying about the most trivial of things. It kills me, but I just have to let it out and he is there for me. No matter what. I always apologize, and I know that I need help — which is why I’m so angry with my psych doctor about not taking my request for medications seriously. My husband is the ONLY person I trust and count on, but he is also my only friend — which also gives me co-dependence issues. Like I said, my girlfriends are all too busy raising families — which is extremely isolating and depressing that despite my efforts to go do things, go places, have hobbies — it’s usually by myself.

    I’ll be going to a chiropractor 3 days a week for the next 6 weeks for joint inflammation. Praying so much for some relief so that the pain no longer controls my emotions and thoughts. So sick of taking pills, even tried all of the herbals, turmeric, milk thistle, fish oil, calcium, magnesium, every B vitamin under the sun…. I don’t take prescription pills lightly and have tried the “natural” ways for such a long time that I just need a crutch for a little while.

    I’ve been coming to this site first thing every morning for inspiration and hope. Now I’m here to whine about how awful my life is and “poor me” which is really sad and not something I ever thought I would do. On the outside, my life is awesome — but my insides feel like they’re being torn apart. A lot of it is because I’m not living an authentic life. I’m not doing what makes me happy. I work because society expects me to do a job. Maybe it’s all just hormones and a midlife crisis, but it hurts so much that I needed to share this story and ask for advice.

    #81144
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear iwatsu:

    I don’t see your posts as whining (the word you used, whine) or a “poor me” thing. Not at all. Is it a voice in you (your internalized mother’s voice telling you in a put-down way; “poor YOU, what do you have to complain about, stop whining..?)

    You wrote that your mother physically abused you, that you hate her and that she brags about going to church. I figure you are still in contact with her and that is how you HEAR her bragging about going to church. you wrote that you hate her for being a hypocrite. You also wrote that you are not “living an authentic life.”

    I wonder if (and it is an IF, for you to decide on accuracy) you think that you are a hypocrite for being in contact with a woman you hate, your mother? I wonder if you hate not only her but yourself for not doing what is authentic to you: cutting contact with a woman you hate…?

    I share your feeling about children. I too am child free by choice, for the same reason you mentioned. I suppose your mother hurt you real bad, like mine… I decided life is too painful (it was so painful to me) that it would be irresponsible for me to bring a new life to suffer.

    It is my projection of my own story with my mother that is speaking here, a projection that may have some accuracy: I wonder in your list of people you blame: yourself, your husband, your busy girlfriends, the policy makers, the meth addicts, the heroine addicts…

    Why are you in contact with your mother? Are you still protecting her from the full intensity of your anger?

    I am sorry about your physical joint pain. Could be an emotional element to that pain. Emotions are physical, after all.

    What do you think?

    anita

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