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I'm 40. I just turned 40 this year in Jan. I've had PTSD all my life probably, but not diagnosed until 2011. I've been married once for almost 14 years. We're separated. We have three kids. Things have been bad for a long time. We did the marriage counseling thing and eventually quit...

I just turned 40 this year. I am separated from my husband after 20 years. PTSD has a way of wrecking havoc on relationships like that. He doesn't understand what it's like to be me and the more I explain the further he distances. I feel so isolated and alone. I just want someone to...

Life is getting interesting... Ever watched Cast Away?, you know with Wilson the volleyball that Tom Hanks used to not feel isolated and alone? I had something like that. It was a white cotton ball in a mayonnaise jar filled with water. I secretly hid it under the bathroom sink after I stole...

Complex PTSD has been a struggle in my life for 6 years. I had it way before then, but life was stable enough that it was masked to a large degree. During the day, from the moment the drugs I take at night to allow me to even fall asleep, I'm plagued by debilitating anxiety. My heart races...

Hi! Honestly, I can't take sounds. The clock ticking, the doorbell ringing, my kids fighting, the phone--all of it. It makes me angry, I get so keyed up and panicked, I physically shake. It's takes me a long time to recover. My heart races so fast I break out into a sweat. I had to remove...

Hi, I have a lot of problems on my hands. I am separating from my husband after nearly 14 years because he just cannot be emotionally supportive through my long standing complex PTSD and depression. I have struggled so much! He just cannot understand what happens to me and leaves me to care...

"You have to trust me, even if just a little bit at a time. If you dont, you'll never accomplish what you want. What do you want, by the way? This relationship isnt about us, it's about you." Sounds innocent, right? Sounds like the sort of thing you want hear from your Therapist (T.) But...

Hi All, I could really use some advice. I've been with my Therapist (T) for about 3 months. Before him, I was with his collegue who decided to retire in 6 months, so I was referred. My therapy sessions are very stressful. He seems not be be a good "leader" in the sense that he wants me to...

My therapist and I disagree. When I was a kid and teenager, my mentally ill mother (she's borderline), demanded I take off my clothes to be spanked. She was a harsh parent, often cruel in fact. But is repeatedly spanking a naked 15 year old girl child abuse or worse, sexual abuse? What do...

I'm in NOVA. Anyone close by?

I have been married for 10 years to a man that really is my best friend. We almost never argue, he tries his best to make me happy and give me what I want and need. We have three kids together and they really are awesome! I feel honored and privileged every day for the opportunity to raise...

Hi. I need your help. Maybe I just need your support. Or maybe I just need to have someone who understands what is happening to me. Right now, I take 100mg of zoloft, .5mg of xanax, 5mg of lexapro (I'm weaning from that), 3mg of lunesta, and still I toss and turn or I'll fall asleep and...

Ok, so get this: I've been interviewing therapists. It's not been an easy process, but this last guy has taken the cake. I'd of laughed for sure, if I hadn't been crying. So, I walk in. I sit down. Music is playing in the waiting area (no receptionist). Even though the classical music is on, I...

After last week's success with my list of questions to my T, I'm back to feeling like crap again. To bad the high only lasted a week. I'm frustrated! The five minute warning never came in therapy today. I was watching the clock too--but he said nothing. At least I didn't feel like I got...

Ok, so I got some of my own issues with my therapist squared away. So that got me thinking. What does the therapeutic relationship look like? What kinds of traits make for a good one? How do you know when it's good? When it's bad or (Yikes!) when it's over?

Hi everyone. I need your help once again. After a rocky road with my therapist, I've come up with some questions to ask him at our next session. Do these seem reasonable to you? Confrontational? Likely to cause a rift in the therapeutic relationship? Should I expect direct responses back...

I am a 35 year old wife and mother of three. I never cry about anything. I am strong. But I have been brought to my knees by something that I don't understand. I'm scared. I need your help to understand what happened to me because I can seem to find anyone who does. I have been in therapy...

Is there any such thing as a mental parachute? Where's the safe place to fall if it doesn't go as planned? I'm talking about therapy. How on earth do you trust your mental health provider with your deepest, darkest secrets when you don't even trust yourself. How do you share memories...

I feel like I'm in so deep, lived this for so long, how is there possibly any way out? No one understands. You feel guilty for hiding it and not sharing it all at the same time. My personal favorite is feeling like someone has it way worse that you do, so what are you complaining about? Those...

Crazy. That's been my journey in life. When I talk about myself, it's almost like my life never happened. The story lines of movies or books, but not my story, or my book. Falsely accused of molesting my 10 year old brother back in 1993, changed my exsistence forever. Arrested, handcuffed...