A menagerie of issues that just won't fit elsewhere

Postby thechosentwo » Mon May 14, 2012 10:20 pm

Lets see if I can focus long enough to finish this. My name is Andrew, and though it brings me an immense amount of shame to tell my story, here it is. I am 25 years old and suffer from what seems like a veritable smorgasbord of psychological troubles. I guess I'll start with a little backstory, which may sound a bit like a sob story, but from my perspective its all pertinent. I have been an outcast most of my life. I have always struggled with weight and have taken a lot of grief for it. I was diagnosed with ADHD very early in life, though as I look back I realize that that diagnosis may have been either incorrect or at least incomplete. My first depressive that I can remember began almost a decade ago during my Sophomore year following the breakup of what I considered to be my first real romantic relationship. However, I believe my mood problems may go back even farther than that. My real problems began during my senior year though. My mom was diagnosed with cancer that year, and at the time I was being homeschooled. I decided to get a job at that time and soon my schoolwork began to go undone. I missed graduation entirely and in 2006 I decided to dropout and work fulltime. I later got my GED. Mom died in 2008. Six months later my father was diagnosed with bladder cancer. After I was "released" from my job due to my frequency in errors I decided to start taking care of my father fulltime. He passed away in 2010. During this time I developed some serious anxiety issues as well as another depression. My sleeping habits became irratic and when I wasn't taking care of his needs I was engaging in some sort of escapist activity like reading or playing video games. All of these things have carried over into life after my father passed. I got a job an hour from home, leaving me to commute an 40 miles everyday. When I'd come home all I'd want to do is unwind. This turned into entire weekends being devoted to "unwinding". I started out strong, but eventually I lost grasp of everything. My sleeping problems, anxiety and depression became crippling. My home fell into disarray, bills started stacking up, the answering machine went untouched. my entire life went to pieces. In November of last year the entire second floor of my family home was destroyed in a fire. Now I live entirely off of the generosity of others. My fear has become so crippling that there are days I won't leave the RV my neighbor loaned to me to live in. I'm afraid to talk to people out of shame, fear that my character will be judged poorly, and fear that yhat judgement will be entirely justified. I constantly live with feelings of hopelessness and dread, of being a degenerate and a failure. There are days where I feel like such a terrible person and a burden that I have a moral obligation to end my life. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily depending on the perspective, I am still under the influence of the instinctual drive to survive and avoid pain. Which is what I do. Its all I do it seems. Just living for the sake of living.

I don't really know what to do. My work is the only thing which seems to make sense any more. And even that is at risk due to my difficulties sleeping resulting in difficuties waking. I.m late for work sometimes everyday out of the week. I'm alienated from my coworkers because of it. I'm just so damned afraid all the time. Afraid to take responsibility, afraid to talk to people, afraid to take almost any action whatsoever for fear of the ramifications. I have a therapy appointment coming up and that scares the crap out of me for fear of what the judgement might be. I just want my sanity back. I'm not really sure why I'm writing this. Maybe I want some justification, to be told I'm still a good person. Or maybe I just want someone to tell me that there's hope. All I know for certain is that there's something wrong with me.
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#1

Postby offplanet » Tue May 15, 2012 2:25 pm

Hello Andrew
I just spent some time typing out a reply to you and Internet Explorer 'encountered a problem' and lost it just as I was about to send it, and now I have to go to bed!
I had been saying that you had done well despite all the trauma you've had in your life especially recently, and that you show good character for having looked after your father and having held down your job, and not to give up, and that the therapist will not judge you. There is definitely hope for you. It's good you've reached out and sought help. I hope you come back and post more. I relate to your story because I seem to live in fear myself. I think you deserve to spend all the weekend unwinding in any way which helps you and gives you some fun, interest or comfort, because it's not easy holding down a job when one has a few issues. Just focus on covering the basics of survival for now. Don't expect any more from yourself or put too much pressure on yourself, because you've been through a lot lately.

Try to get some help re sleeping and waking up early to get to your job. Hang onto that job at all costs! And don't let those bils pile up.I hope someone else can respond to you too, as I have to go now. All the best.
Offplanet
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#2

Postby thechosentwo » Tue May 15, 2012 4:59 pm

@offplanet Thanks for the reply. It certainly helped to lift my spirits a little. There is so much to tell and just not enough time to type it all out on this tablet. Fear has certainly become the predominant emotion in my life. As I said I'm afraid to talk to people, of even the possibility of running into someone I know. It had gotten to the point where I had started parking my car out of sight at home so no one would come knocking. I would only go to the super market late at night because simply being in a crowded area would cause my mind to go utterly blank. My friends have all drifted away because of my isolation. My old roommate apparently hates me, and for good reason I suppose. After the fire I didn't have much time to take care of the house so it went untouched. Someone broke in and stole some things, including a game system of his. Like most things I told no one, including him and when he found out he was pretty angry. I haven't spoken to him since. There are so many responsibilites I have avoided because I'm afraid to talk to the people, mostly because I haven't been talking to them. I haven't spoken to the lawyer handling my dad's estate in months, first because I thought I didn't have the time and now because I don't know how to explain why.

Then there's the recurring fear of fire I.ve developed. The slightest popping or crackling noise sends me into a panic to check my surroundings and causes goosebumps and heart palpitations. I relive the moment I opened the door to find myself surrounded by smoke and heat at least two or three times a week.

Even fond memories make me feel sad now. It seems like I'll go out of my way to even avoid things that might remind me of happier times.

My biggest fear though is that of losing my mind entirely. I have always considered myself a rational and intelligent individual. My mental health is more important to me than my physical. I'm an artist and philosopher, or it is my dream to be anyway. And so when I start becoming irrational I fear losing control, ending up institutionalized or worse isolated and unable to relate to anyone. I'm not a materialistic person. I don't want to be rich or have an abundance of nice things, I simply want knowledge and experience, to see the world differently than others and to share the gift of intuition, knowledge and wisdom with the people around me. I believe the greatest memorial we leave behind is not a headstone or an estate but the things we said and the people we helped. I want to get back to a point where I can do that. I can be homeless, hungry and near death from disease but so long as I hear and speak I think I can be happy. But as of now I am not living a life which is consistent with my ego out of fear and that makes me miserable
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#3

Postby offplanet » Wed May 16, 2012 3:15 am

Short reply because i'm going off to my part time job now, full of fear, too, unfortunately. To be honest, I was better when I used to take Zoloft, and even St John's Wort, but I stopped them due to concern they might be affecting my eyes. The persistent feeling of fear only started when I stopped medication. It sounds like you might have post traumatic stress syndrome, but I'm not an expert. All the best. Offplanet
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