Hi everyone, I’m Gonz. I, uh, don’t really know what to say here, so I guess here’s a bit of info about me.
I’m a 42 year old widower. My wife died from an opiate overdose. What would have been her 40th birthday just passed, and the 7 year anniversary of her death is coming up.
I have PTSD stemming from certain childhood events. Specifically, I experienced a violent sexual assault at age 8 and witnessed several acts of pretty extreme violence (or the immediate aftermath) in my teens and earlier.
I went undiagnosed and untreated for pretty much my entire life until a few years after my wife’s death. I had basically locked myself away in a single room all day every day, abusing dissociatives until I had a heart attack, and for the last few years I’ve been trying to put my life back together.
I’m now in treatment, meds and therapy, and was recently approved for disability. I no longer have any sort of social circle, and doubt my ability to form a new one at this point.
It’s pretty much impossible to have even a basic getting-to-know-you conversation without revealing very personal things that I’d rather not share. I mean, I can’t even answer questions like “what do you do for work” (I don’t) or “where do you live” (in a camper on my parents’ property) without revealing how messed up my life is and inviting more questions.
My therapist has been strongly recommending that I find ways to reduce my isolation (my weekly visits with her are the only time I leave home), and has suggested support groups for people with similar issues in order to avoid any stigma or judgement (real or perceived), in hopes that I can be less guarded.
There are no in-person groups nearby that I would be eligible to join, so here I am. I think it might be easier to talk about this stuff anonymously anyway.
I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone.
I’m a 42 year old widower. My wife died from an opiate overdose. What would have been her 40th birthday just passed, and the 7 year anniversary of her death is coming up.
I have PTSD stemming from certain childhood events. Specifically, I experienced a violent sexual assault at age 8 and witnessed several acts of pretty extreme violence (or the immediate aftermath) in my teens and earlier.
I went undiagnosed and untreated for pretty much my entire life until a few years after my wife’s death. I had basically locked myself away in a single room all day every day, abusing dissociatives until I had a heart attack, and for the last few years I’ve been trying to put my life back together.
I’m now in treatment, meds and therapy, and was recently approved for disability. I no longer have any sort of social circle, and doubt my ability to form a new one at this point.
It’s pretty much impossible to have even a basic getting-to-know-you conversation without revealing very personal things that I’d rather not share. I mean, I can’t even answer questions like “what do you do for work” (I don’t) or “where do you live” (in a camper on my parents’ property) without revealing how messed up my life is and inviting more questions.
My therapist has been strongly recommending that I find ways to reduce my isolation (my weekly visits with her are the only time I leave home), and has suggested support groups for people with similar issues in order to avoid any stigma or judgement (real or perceived), in hopes that I can be less guarded.
There are no in-person groups nearby that I would be eligible to join, so here I am. I think it might be easier to talk about this stuff anonymously anyway.
I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone.
