View Single Post
 
Old Feb 14, 2011, 02:56 PM
pgrundy's Avatar
pgrundy pgrundy is offline
Veteran Member
 
Member Since: Nov 2010
Posts: 391
I went through about four years of therapy for this kind of issue in the early 90s. When I was first in therapy and everything was very intense, I disclosed my trauma fairly frequently. I needed to talk about it with friends and so forth. I also confronted my family, as you did--and with similar horrible results. Even my friends had a hard time coping.

Over time I learned that it's actually kind of rough on me to disclose this stuff. It rarely makes me feel better. I can never predict the other person's reaction, for one thing, and once I've put it out there, it's out there and I have to cope with THEIR feelings and hang-ups on top of my own. So today, almost 20 years later, I rarely disclose anymore--though my husband and grown kids know and are very supportive.

I also eventually had to estrange myself from my original family. I couldn't get well and be in that family at the same time. It took several years of therapy to realize that, however. First there's the therapy for the thing itself, then you realize you can't relate to your family the same way anymore and there's that to deal with. It doesn't happen quickly--give yourself as much time as you need and try not to expect much from them.

Hang in there. It gets better! But you may never get what you want from them. In time you'll learn to get what you need and want from others and from yourself.

So sorry you are going through this. I promise you if you stick with therapy it will sort out, just maybe not the way you want right now.
Thanks for this!
Distressed2010