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I just need a safe place to vent this. This weekend, I graduated from law school with a juris doctor degree. This is a goal I have worked toward for well over a decade since I wasn't able to attend following undergrad. I worked pretty damned hard. Like others, our law school's graduation...

What would you do if: 1. You didn't do anything for your spouse on Christmas, 2. You didn't do anything for your spouse on Valentine's Day, 3. And then you didn't do anything for them on your anniversary, 4. And then when it was their birthday, you told them you would make them a special dinner...

Hi all. I need a little help managing some returning symptoms. I have been doing mostly ok for several months, but now I've had some symptoms that seem to have returned out of nowhere, and I'm not sure what to do. This weekend, I could feel my anger returning, just simmering & seething for no...

I want this out of my head. Growing up, my mother used to brag about how she would make a "good murderer." She would talk about how easy it would be for her to murder someone, how easy it would be to go somewhere and shoot people. She used to tell me that when the news cameras come to...

I have a 3-year-old son, and I am not sure what to tell him about mental illness. My mother suffers from bipolar issues, depression, and delusional thinking. Recently, her symptoms have become so bad that I have had to distance myself from her for my own health, safety, and continued healing...

I have recently decided to try to set some healthy boundaries with my mother concerning the types of behavior and language I will tolerate. I have tried to explain these boundaries clearly and in a loving way to her. (my letter to her is here) She, as I expected, is not respecting these...

This doesn't really have much to do with mental health, but I need some advice on how to handle a bounced paycheck. Recently, I took a 2nd job doing some paralegal work for an attorney who is also a state senator. It's an under-the-table job, and the hours vary. She paid me, I took the...

I've finally gotten the courage to demand healthy interactions from my mother, who suffers from extreme mental illnesses and was abusive to me as a child. My whole life, I have felt guilty and responsible for her happiness. I have downplayed the abuse she doled out while I was growing up...

I have a son who is almost 3 who just recently started preschool. I was hesitant to enroll him in preschool because I have a very hard time trusting others with the safety of my child. Child abuse goes back in my family as far as can be seen, and I also work in a law firm where I have handled...

It was recently recommended to me by a shrink that I try Bach's Flower Remedies to combat fear. I'm all for placebo effects since I don't want to try pharmaceutical medicines, but I'm also very skeptical. Has anyone ever heard of these or tried them? Our local health food store has them...

Last night, watching Clinton's speech at the DNC, I was very moved by her description of her mother's childhood. It is a description that matches much of mine, and much of my mother's. A child being essentially abandoned at an early age, and then thrown out of the house while still a...

Yesterday, I brought some very basic questions to ask my therapist, and I wonder whether her answers are correct and I'm just naive, or if I need to find someone else to work with. I asked her what therapy is for, what can be accomplished in therapy, what "getting better" looks like, what I am...

Sometimes it feels like there is just too much to work on. It's overwhelming. I need to fix my anxiety, depression, temper, house, weight, phobia, inability to connect with others, financial situation, blah blah blah blah. I don't even want to type it all! Why do I have to have this shit to...

I don't know what to feel about the neglect I experienced as a child. I was left alone each day in the house with no supervision from the age of 5. When my mother & step father were home, I had to either be in the garage, or my bedroom (when I finally had a bedroom instead of a couch in the...

So, after a strange falling out with my therapist involving her views on race & gender, I ended up finding a new therapist. I'm hopeful that I can make some real progress with this one, although I am not at all sure what "progress" actually looks like. Living in Montana, I know it will be...

Do any other women notice an increase in PTSD symptoms around the time before their period? I notice that in the week before my period, I tend to have more angry outbursts & fight more with my spouse. My anxiety increases, as does my insomnia, lack of focus, depression, and irrational...

Ugh. Another round of depression seems to be coming over me. Violent thoughts, anger, lethargy, thoughts of suicide. I don't know what to do. When I've spoken with a therapist in the past, she focused a lot on the "why" part of it all. But does that even matter? Can't I just figure out...

I'm at work right now, and I just realized that whenever I experience conflict with an authority figure or anyone who is older then me, I get an image of my mother chasing me with a piece of baseboard that she used to hit me with. It was about 2 inches wide and maybe 18 inches long, dark brown...

I have an opportunity to start a new job as an insurance adjuster which will come with a lot of good benefits. I will have health insurance for my family & I, which will ensure that I can continue with therapy if I need to. The pay is also a little more than I receive now. I am, however...

Yesterday, my shrink spent about 15 minutes talking about how my son needs a male role model to show him how to be a man. She held up her husband as an ideal, saying that he shows their son what a good father is, and how to be a good man. She went on and on, even going on to say that people...

It's my birthday, and as I continue to wrestle with suicidal thoughts, I do not want this reminder of my birth. f*ck today. f*ck tomorrow. f*ck it all.

A friend of mine committed suicide a couple of weeks ago. His funeral was this last weekend. I did not cry at the funeral. When I saw others crying, it felt like a matter-of-fact thing to witness, like when you might notice that someone's hair is a mess, but you don't say anything about it...

Oftentimes I feel that I am causing a lot of the suffering in the world, because I'm not doing anything to alleviate it. I see awful stories in the news, and I am overwhelmed at the sadness of it all. Children in war zones & refugee camps, people beaten or killed for their sexuality or...

Yesterday my shrink had me sign a release form allowing her to talk with my wife. She told me that she is worried that I may try to commit suicide, and she wants to be able to contact my wife to talk with her about this. She told me that there are 4 steps that she may take if she continues to...

I don't even know what to say. Sometimes I feel that I am too ugly of a person to even connect with others. It's just baffling to watch other people talk, enjoy each other's comments, and form bonds. Somehow, I've managed to be married, though I am always in fear that one day, my wife will...