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The 'ying and yang' of life, I guess. No, I personally don't 'need' them (e.g., covet anything they could offer me, such as praise, compensation, approval, etc.). Nevertheless, I feel an obligation to help others, to serve them. It's a religious feeling. One of my all-time favorites is Mother...

There has to be something you can do that you're really interested in. Something...... Give it some thought. Go for it. Find something to live for. Don't give up. You're alive for a reason. Find out what it is, and live for it. When I last bottomed out, I told myself, "Okay, I'm going to serve...

I hear ya. I experience that sort of thing myself. I haven't spoken to some of 'those folks' for three or four years.

So, there's a good reason to be positive about something. You're trying. What are your interests? Any hobbies?

Do you believe you're a good person?

I sort of grew up feeling that way. Early on, I decided to take responsibility for my own emotional survival (e.g., conscious thought). I remember telling myself, again, as a kid, "Well, if no one else here is going to give a damn about me, I'll go it alone. I'll stop needing people." Now, I'm...

"I have heard that "thoughts are everything", if this is true I am in a bad way, all I think of is negative thoughts and the fact I have no reason to live and I shouldn't have been born in the first place!" When it comes to negative self-talk, thoughts definitely are not 'everything', e.g...

Avoidance probably isn't the solution. I'd say therapy is, to deal with those distorted thoughts. That's what I had to go through, and will probably always have to go through, every so often.

My 'crisis' involved factors similar to those mentioned here. Strangely enough, my underlying, anticipatory anxiety is rooted in a speech impediment, learned from my mother, as a child. Because it isn't readily apparent, in my ordinary, verbal communications, I adapted to it, figured out ways to...

Over the last 15 years, I've had about a dozen therapists. A certain cycle kicks in, every time. I'll go every two weeks, or perhaps once a month, for about six months. I'll start feeling very strong and eventually conclude I'm cured. I'll terminate therapy, function normally for about six...

An axiom of my therapy is not to fight the negative self-talk (or flashbacks, if you will), but to flow with it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I had dissociated for about a year, and then last week the PTSD came back. Now I'm digging through my toolbox of skills, and that's one of them.

I know this isn't a religious website, but in my case, if I didn't have my faith, life would have no meaning. Whenever I feel as you described above, I reflect on my conviction that my life followed God's plan. The peaks and valleys were necessary checkpoints, along the journey. Some of the...

I'm 54, and get overwhelmed with melancholy and guilt, concerning the past, quite often. All I can do is pray at these times. Guilt for me is a major theme. I'm very sentimental. Sometimes the guilt goes so far back, and runs so deeply, I want to contact people, as well, and apologize to them...

You've been through hell. I give you a ton of credit for having survived it. You might feel down and out, but you're really very tough. Maybe you can use your hardships to help others. I often try to do that myself. Hang in there. I'm routing for you.

Yes. Excellent.

Details to follow. Had a nervous breakdown in 1297, and still suffer the PTSD aspect of it. Have worked through most of the other issues, through therapy and meds. Life will never be the same for me, but I can usually manage. December 12th, 1997.

Reason: Greater detail.

Thanks for the welcome, folks. My life changed forever in December, 1997, when a bunch of deeply rooted emotional problems merged with other health issues, and put me in a state of crisis. Since then, I've worked through most of these problems, with the extensive help of therapists, shrinks...

Health-related PTSD, over the last 15 years. Depression and anxiety. I've had about a dozen therapists, and I see a shrink once every six months for meds. He says my condition is like a shadow that follows me, wherever I go. He couldn't be more correct. Whenever I think I've recovered, it comes...