Search results

It's not distressing per se, it's just different to his usual responses. I am trying to figure out if he needs more space or not. I am finding the responses on this forum very discouraging. I'm trying to understand someone who asked me for help in the first place, which is not the easiest...

Er, he brought it up in the first place and I simply asked questions. However, he would sometimes say he was not able to answer those questions in the moment. I wouldn't ask him to talk about something he didn't want to talk about. Ever.

Hi guys Just wondering if I resumed contact too soon since he pulled away and seemed to be needing space? He always responds to my texts, just that this time around it's taken him hours and his replies have been brief and closed off (no emotional disclosures). After ten days, I send him a text...

Is it possible that the closer I get to this guy with PTSD the more he will pull away? He tells me very personal stuff every once in a while, which is a big deal, because he says he doesn't trust anyone, not even therapists, and literally nobody cares. But when he tells me stuff, it is stressful...

Have been thinking about the behaviour of the guy I love. I am the first 'relationship' he has had (at age 25), and the most we have ever done is talk. We have discussed dating, but nervously. Before he went overseas on his first ever trip, for training, we were very close and he said he'd make...

He has come back from his withdrawal and is more open again. I will encourage him as a friend and just see what the future brings. One step at a time. He will always have my support. :)

Thanks, everyone. I realise he's not ready for a relationship. I was hoping we could be friends and see how that works out. The thing is, he cannot contact *any* girl. He is simply too terrified of being rejected. He has raised the issue of therapy with me, tentatively, and I did say it had...

Also, unusually, he doesn't self-medicate or self-harm, despite having a mother and brother who have both tried to commit suicide. He drinks very little and never gets drunk. He is very self-disciplined and meditates a lot. He is generally positive and is highly intelligent (is a coder and loves...

Thanks, guys. Well, he can't even initiate contact with me because of his fear of abandonment, so we just assume that I will make all the contact and do all the initiating (but he made all the 'moves' in the dojo by giving me meaningful looks - at first 'save me' looks, then when we realised we...

The guy I'm in love with has survived childhood trauma but has PTSD. He is 25 but has never had a relationship. He says he fears rejection and abandonment more than death. Recently we started talking tentatively about possibly dating (it has taken us two years of back and forth to get to the...

Thanks. It is tough. But I can handle everything except him pushing me away a few times in a row because I try to give him enough space to work through stuff. Once I didn't contact him for a whole month, although as we do martial arts together we had some communication there. Also, I have to be...

Thanks. :)

It is interesting that some of you say you distance yourself from the one you care about when triggered. The guy I am in love with is 25, has never had a relationship, and struggles with emotional closeness. He frequently gets overwhelmed. We were making great progress then talk turned to...

Those are good suggestions. I have told him what I would like from the friendship, that is, to see him more often. But I know he struggles with closeness and often cancels a couple of times before he is able to meet. However, I just roll with it. No point in getting upset, which will only upset...

Yes, I think he is doing exactly that. However, I am not a trained therapist! I agree he needs to see a professional. I did gently suggest it might help (I told him therapy had helped me such a lot), but he said nobody really cares. How sad is that? :(

I'm also a supporter and just made my first post. I'm sorry to hear about your sister! So she's had all medical possibilities ruled out? It's quite possibly a psychosomatic thing due to PTSD but without a diagnosis probably impossible to confirm. Is she open to any kind of therapy? The guy I'm...

It seems to me that you are very, very, hard on yourself. You should probably give yourself a break. There is nothing worse or more destructive than guilt. Whatever you have done in the past is gone - you can't do anything about it. If you are not coping in the present - don't beat yourself up...

I'm no expert (at anything!), but what has helped me a lot over the years with anxiety and depression is meditation. At first it was really hard, I put too much pressure on myself, expected my mind to quieten down, etc. Now I know that acceptance is a huge part of meditation - watching the...

Hi everyone, I'm Maggie Rose. I have been in love with a trauma survivor for almost three years now. We are not in a relationship because it has taken us this long to progress to meaningful conversations. When I met him he could barely talk to anyone. He still struggles to make eye contact...