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I think I messed up please help :(

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  • #96568
    samantha
    Participant

    Hi guys, this is my first post ever so I’m probably going to sound a bit awkward. Anyway, I’m in a relationship right, or at least I think I still am. But first, a bit of context about myself: I have been struggling for a long time with anxiety and depression and my instinct when dealing with negative emotions is to just try and push them down because I don’t want to deal with the pain and it often just ends up culminating into big episodes of breakdowns for me where I just get so overwhelmed with my emotions, I have outbursts when they overflow. I deal with a lot of self-loathing and beating myself up and I sometimes want to hurt myself when everything just feels like it’s too much.

    Ok, so I met this guy 2 years ago and we got along really well. Like we became friends pretty much immediately and just wanted to hang out a lot. We eventually started dating but broke up after a few months when he realised he wasn’t completely over his ex and had jumped into a relationship too early because he really liked me. We broke up and I took some time to try and sort out my own issues and he started seeing a counsellor again (he’d seen a few before for depression as well) and after about 3 months, we kinda felt ready to try again.

    And everything was pretty great. We fell really in love and it just felt completely different from the first time we got together, it was difficult to get past the hurt from when we broke up in the first place but we made do and most of the time, we were really happy together. I did have a few breakdowns here and there but he was always there for me and I supported him through his tough times too.

    So fast forward to about a few months ago, I just started getting really anxious and panicking about my life, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I started a masters in september but got really depressed that I just couldn’t function and I dropped out because I just wasn’t getting anything done. He stood by me through all of that, me having outbursts of emotion and sometimes hurting myself and sometimes I would push him away because I felt bad about him having to go through all of that but we somehow always managed to work it out and carry on as before.

    Then about 2 nights ago, I was recently feeling really stressed about visa issues and just generally about what I wanted to do with my life. I was feeling really overwhelmed and I didn’t know how to deal with all my emotions, I just kinda started hitting myself (it wasn’t the first time I did that). He tried to get me to stop but I was really worked up so he kinda just gave up after awhile and put on his coat and shoes and I asked him where he was going and he said he needed to take a walk. I don’t know why but something in me after that just felt like he was abandoning me, I mean, it might have been because he just got up to leave and didn’t tell me where he was going (until I got up and asked him) or just the panic and anxiety from the stress I had been experiencing just made me so scared he was going to abandon me and leave me forever (I have abandonment issues as well from childhood when my mum left my dad and wasn’t very present for most of my developmental years). And I don’t know, I told him I wanted to kill myself. I told him that if he left, I was going to die. (and I feel so ashamed of typing this out now) but I went into this complete meltdown, like I just started sobbing and tried to break down the window to outside and he tried to calm me down and comfort me but I just couldn’t calm down. And eventually he pulled me off the ledge and sat me down on the bed and when I started to calm down, he just had enough. He said the whole experience was very frightening and very traumatising and that he wasn’t sure if he could handle any more of this.

    So, basically, I don’t know where we are right now. He says a part of him still loves me just the same but at the same time, another part of him doesn’t know or doesn’t want to be with me anymore. It’s driving me insane because I am so bad at dealing with uncertainty and at the same time, I feel so guilty and ashamed for what I did. It was so irrational, I just couldn’t comprehend the state of mind I was in when it happened after I had gotten some semblance of rationality back. He went away for the weekend to spend some time with his best friend so he could possibly have some time away from me to think and process his feelings and we’ve agreed not to talk (we usually talk to each other constantly whether in person or through messages, we’re usually always, always connected somehow) and only chat to catch up in the evenings.

    And I’m just struggling so much to stop my head from exploding. I can’t stop thinking about how much I miss him, how much I want him to come back (as in decide that he ultimately still wants to stay with me) and I know no matter how much worrying I do, I can’t affect his decision but I just have so many emotions. I haven’t slept much at all the past 2 nights and I always wake up and cry and I’m crying pretty much at random points during the day. It feels like I’m going through a break-up right now when I don’t actually know if I am? I’m so confused and I don’t know what to do, and if you took the time to read all of that, thank you so much. I didn’t include all the details because I didn’t want this to turn into an essay.

    I just…feel so helpless right now and I just desperately don’t want my relationship to end 🙁

    #96581
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear samantha:

    i would like to read and reply to your post when in a few hours when I am back to the computer.

    Take care:
    anita

    #96589
    LostOne27
    Participant

    Dear Samantha,

    It sounds to me like you have a lot to deal with before you are truly ready for a relationship with someone else. You need to work on your relationship with yourself first, and it sound like some work with a counselor for you would be very useful now. You need to work through your anxiety issues and be comfortable with yourself before you can truly be in a healthy relationship with someone else, no matter how much you like him. You need to figure out what you want in life, and you need to learn how to deal with stress in a healthy way, without hurting yourself or scaring the people around you. A professional can help you with all of these things, so you can come into a relationship at your best. Right now it sounds like there is just too much uncertainty in your life and of course that is stressful. Best of luck.

    #96590
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    “And I’m just struggling so much to stop my head from exploding. I can’t stop thinking about how much I miss him, how much I want him to come back (as in decide that he ultimately still wants to stay with me) and I know no matter how much worrying I do, I can’t affect his decision but I just have so many emotions. I haven’t slept much at all the past 2 nights and I always wake up and cry and I’m crying pretty much at random points during the day. It feels like I’m going through a break-up right now when I don’t actually know if I am? I’m so confused and I don’t know what to do, and if you took the time to read all of that, thank you so much. I didn’t include all the details because I didn’t want this to turn into an essay.

    I just…feel so helpless right now and I just desperately don’t want my relationship to end” 🙁

    Awe… My heart goes out to you completely. That makes me happy that you love him so very much to believe and not give up on Him. That is true love and it appears you are in it for the long run. As it’s very rare to find people these days that will always be there for you, no matter what the obstacle may be or how hard it gets. It’s okay to cry if it helps you but please don’t be so hard on yourself hun. Love always finds a way. Can you at least give him a call? I’m sure that would help you a lot. Please know that you are not alone in this and that even though were are strangers to you on here, we have a lot of love and support to offer you on here. I’m going for a run later but I have a Skype account if you want someone to talk to right now . If you don’t have a Skype account, you can create on for free and rid of it at any time you feel like it. I’m going to be out running errands after my run in the park later today but my phone is always with me/Skype is on my phone. Here is my username on Skype: signalhill84

    I am offering this to support you in any way I can by having someone to talk to, so you know that you are not alone in this.

    Namaste-

    M.

    #96594
    samantha
    Participant

    Thanks all of you for your replies.


    @Lostone27
    I know I have a lot of work to do on myself before I can really just let myself be vulnerable in a relationship. But he said that we were going to try and work our issues out together because he also wanted to be with me. I mean, I know that doesn’t necessarily mean it will work but I definitely want to try my hardest to work things out with him.

    @Elletinker700 thank you for your support. 🙂 we agreed to catch up in the evening to see how the other was doing. So we just exchanged a few messages, he’s off having fun with his best friend whom he hardly gets to see so I just asked how he was and eventually just told him I was going to bed and that I love him. And I tried writing a letter to help express what I wanted to say and sort out my thoughts and that seemed to help a bit. But, thank you. It really helps me to know I’m not alone, even if we don’t know each other 🙂

    #96604
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear samantha;

    Did you attend psychotherapy in the past? How did it go and for how long?

    You need good psychotherapy where the therapist will teach you skills so to tolerate and endure strong emotions without going crazy, hitting yourself, threatening suicide and whatever else you do. Endure emotions and not give in to the urge to act in the ways you listed. There are ways to do this. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is tailored, so I understand, to people suffering from symptoms listed under Borderline Personality Disorder BPD). Are you familiar with BPD? If not, will you google it, read the symptoms and get back with me with your thoughts?

    anita

    #96620
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    So happy of you Samantha! 🙂

    I am sure you are on cloud9 and sleeping in peace, while have sweet dreams. Makes me so happy that you and your love spoke today. Have a beautiful weekend. <3

    Sending lots of love, positivity and light your way.

    All the best! 🙂

    M.

    #96621
    samantha
    Participant

    @anita This is the first time I tried psychotherapy. I started nearly 2 years ago but progress has been really slow. I guess I have a lot of issues to sort out. I’m currently still going for it once a week. Yes, I’ve heard of DBT and I have a book on it for regulating emotions which I read through half of in the past year but I never got round to doing the exercises. Started reading it again yesterday, this time with the intention of doing all the exercises. And yes, I am familiar with the symptoms of BPD and have been suspecting that I have it for awhile.

    @Elletinker700 Thank you so much for your positivity. 🙂 it’s reallt nice that there are people like you around!

    #96642
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear samantha:

    For the sake of your mental health and for the possibility of having and developing a healthy, loving relationship these behaviors, so characteristic of the diagnosis I mentioned, need to stop. No matter how you feel, you need to not threaten suicide to your boyfriend and you need to not hit yourself and you need to not do other things that will cause him unnecessary alarm and distress (throw things around, hit him, scream and yell, go into a long eerie silence as if you exited reality, or whatever demonstration of despair you exhibit in addition to those you listed).

    These behaviors need to stop. But how? Regulating emotions is it, as in the book you have. So I hope you do the exercises there and work on it in your therapy; I think you need a good therapist’s help in this regard. A book can help you only this far.

    Those behaviors, those desperate measures are motivated by extreme despair, aren’t they? By your belief that you can’t handle your despair and that your boyfriend should help you because you are about to … disintegrate…isn’t it so?

    The thing is, those feelings of despair in themselves are not dangerous. You survived them so far. Enduring them without behaving destructively is key. Then there is more to therapy, but first endure/ regulate emotions without destructive behaviors.

    Please do post anytime. You can share about an exercise from the DBT book you have and your experience with it…?

    anita

    #96644
    samantha
    Participant

    @anita I know. You’re absolutely right, they do need to stop. I keep feeling sorry for him and for myself for tolerating my behaviours but I understand now that feeling sorry isn’t going to help anyone and the best course of action is for me to just do my best to change my behaviours. I’m slightly ashamed to say that I’ve done most of the things listed and they do scare him and he’s been so patient with me, I just became so reliant on him.

    I will talk it over with my therapist when I see her next on Thursday. And yes, they are motivated by despair. I think pretty much all I can feel in those episodes are absolutely nothing but despair and it feels so isolating and I just want to not be alone in it and I end up dragging him down with me. But you are right, I have survived them this whole time. I have the tendency to panic every time there is even the littlest threat of something going wrong but at the very least, I think this whole experience has helped me understand the whole thing a bit more. I understand that I just react with panic and despair every time something negative comes up (whether it be a feeling or something else) and I just sink into this trance-like state where everything seems hopeless BUT I know that it doesn’t have to be that way. That feelings are temporary and they pass just the same every single time and that if I took the time to just be mindful of the negative feelings or thoughts inside my head instead of diving straight into feeling like I can’t handle them then…things will not be so drastic. And I think I just generally need to be more honest with myself (and him) about how I’m really feeling instead of bottling things up until they overflow.

    I think the most useful thing concept I’ve read in the book so far is something called radical acceptance, which I know I’m terrible at because it’s not something I’ve ever really practiced and I’m quick to judge myself but I think I want to develop a healthier relationship with myself (instead of always criticising every mistake and beating myself up) so I will keep trying to practice that. But in the meantime, I have created a distraction plan for myself when I feel that my emotions are going to overwhelm me.

    #96647
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear samantha:

    Distraction is one such skill to regulate emotions, a positive or at least a none harmful distraction, that is.

    Assertiveness is another skill,to express your needs, your feelings authentically on an ongoing basis instead of repressing them until … they explode out of you.

    Radical Acceptance is another skill, accepting what is without judgment, Good or Bad. Seeing the bare minimum of what is, just what it is (a Buddhist principle, peeling off all inaccurate projections).

    Mindfulness is another skill, necessary. It is the paying attention to what is going on inside you and outside of you.

    You are reading the right book and DBT with mindfulness is the correct therapy for you, I strongly believe!

    Please do post again anytime.

    anita

    #96656
    samantha
    Participant

    @anita Thank you so much for your kind words, anita. They’ve been heartwarming and I do believe that I will get there one day 🙂 I have been meaning to try meditation for awhile now for my anxiety and I tried out this app called Headspace the other day and I think it did help calm me down and I will keep at it.

    #96658
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear samantha:

    keeping at it is the way to go! Healing for you is possible and available. It takes time and work, and courage and self discipline, patience and gentleness with yourself. And help from a good psychotherapist … and support otherwise. So do post here any time. When you feel good and when you feel badly. When you feel badly and you feel that you are losing control, post. I will answer you ASAP the moment I am aware of a post by you!

    anita

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