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Old Nov 28, 2017, 05:00 PM
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Skeezyks Skeezyks is offline
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Member Since: Oct 2015
Location: The Star of the North
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Hello Dyreal: I'm sorry you find yourself to be in this most distressing situation. Hopefully coming here to PC can be of some comfort & support. I see this is your first post here on PC. So... welcome to PsychCentral! I hope you find the time you spend here to be of benefit. May I suggest you introduce yourself over on PC's New Member Introductions forum? Here's a link:

https://forums.psychcentral.com/new-...introductions/

There's a lot of support that can be available here on PC. The more you post, & reply to other members' posts, the more a part of the community you will become. Plus there are the chat rooms where you'll be able to interact with other PC members in real time (once your first 5 posts have been reviewed & approved.) So please keep posting!

I did also want to address your particular concerns. I'm an older person &, as such, there was no internet when I was young. So there wasn't the possibility of my getting myself into the type of situation you face. That said, however, there are things in my past that, in their own way, are as disturbing to me as what you have done is to you. So I believe I have some sense of what you're facing. (Oh... & by the way, speaking of suicidal thinking, I've made two serious attempts of my own.)

PC member "Jennifer" (above) asked if you had considered talking to a therapist. And I have to say I think this is probably going to be necessary. I know you mentioned you've tried a few different psychiatrists. And I don't know how mental health services are provided in Denmark. But where I live psychiatrists almost exclusively prescribe & monitor psych med's. If one needs or wants to talk things over at length one has to see a mental health therapist. Sometimes it can take a few tries to find the right one for you. Not every therapist works well with every client. But, talking all of this through at length over a period of time... delving into why you did what you did to begin with, how you feel about it now, & how to live with it in the future is, from my perspective, what is going to be necessary. Of course there are also medications one can take to help with anxiety & depression. And something like this might be something to consider too, at least over the short term.

There is also a Buddhist practice that might be of some help to you both now & in the future. It's not a cure. But it may help a bit as you continue dealing with this. It is referred to as compassionate abiding. It is a practice I use myself multiple times each day. Compassionate abiding involves simply allowing intrusive thoughts to come forward... breathing into them... perhaps even smiling to them. Sometimes I will even place my hand over my heart as a sign of lovingkindness & compassion for them. After a few breaths, I then drop the "story line" (whatever thought, memory or emotion it is that has upset me) & simply continue to stay with the underlying emotion... be it fear, anxiety, grief or whatever until it fades of its own accord... which it does.

Two things happen when we employ this practice. First, very gradually over time, the strength & frequency of intrusive thoughts wanes. But second, & perhaps more important, is that we learn we can stay with difficult thoughts & emotions without losing our balance... our equanimity. Here is a link to a mental-health-oriented description of the practice of compassionate abiding:

https://mindsetdoc.wordpress.com/201...e-abiding-101/

I believe that if you can find a good therapist you feel comfortable with, & perhaps learn to work with the compassionate abiding technique, over time, you will find that you can come out of this successfully. It may well still always hurt. But you can learn to live with it, move on & find happiness in your life.

There is an American Buddhist nun by the name of Pema Chödrön. She has a quite a few books in print. It is from reading Ani Pema's books that I learned about compassionate abiding. One of Ani Pema's first books is titled Start Where You Are- A Guide to Compassionate Living. (Shambhala Publications) (I recommend it highly should you have any interest.) Anyway... one of the things Ani Pema says in this book is that, in the pursuit of happiness & equanimity, a person can believe they are the worst human being to ever have walked the face of the earth. That's a great place to start! Those things about ourselves that we find most objectionable are, in reality, our treasure. Or, as one of Ani Pema's teachers... the late Chogyam Trungpa... was known to say... "chaos can be viewed as very good news!" You can come through this unfortunate experience stronger & at peace. I send warm hugs your way with the hope that it might be so...
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"I may be older but I am not wise / I'm still a child's grown-up disguise / and I never can tell you what you want to know / You will find out as you go." (from: "A Nightengale's Lullaby" - Julie Last)

Last edited by Skeezyks; Nov 28, 2017 at 07:57 PM.
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Thanks for this!
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