I wanted to thank this community for really helping me get through a rough few weeks. I am so much better now, but you all were amazing.
I was dating someone with PTSD who was transitioning out of the military, and seemed to be isolating. I had not known him that long but we had a lot of discussions about what he was going through. Then he practically dropped off the face of the earth, and his phone started having issues. I was very worried based on how he was acting, what he said triggered him, and his history of depression.Even Veteran's Affairs couldn't reach him on the same phone number to check on how his transition was going. We were all concerned he needed help.
I was going through health issues of my own - I didn't realize why I felt so anxious and stressed and couldn't sleep. It turned out my thyroid medicine was way too high. That has happily been fixed but experiencing that at the same time made things all that much worse.
Everyone here took the time to talk to me in chat, explain more from personal experience about isolation and how to reach out or what he might be going through, and was very supportive.It was a very stressful experience that wasn't easy to talk about with friends or family. The information I found in the forum was more helpful than anything I found elsewhere, too.
I did find out what happened - turned out that the single guy I had been dating for a few months wasn't single after all, and that's why he disappeared. I found out by accident when I thought I was checking with a friend of his who happened to be his significant other. The whole concept of a person I trusted that much and who was planning a future with me putting me through that amount of worry and lying that extensively pretty well put me into shock. I did follow up with the VA so that they could follow up with him, but after that I was focused on myself.
You all helped me again that weekend. I was emotional, exhausted, and couldn't relax or sleep for anything for at least 48 hours. But people talked to me in chat and supported me, and when I asked for help, you all gave me more useful advice in 15 minutes than I had gotten from a day of looking for myself. Breathing exercises, relaxation ideas, e-counseling links if I needed it, opinions on whether it would actually be useful or a waste of time to go to an urgent care or an ER since it was a weekend. My brain was so fried at that point I needed someone to tell me what to do. I was able to relax, get some food, get some sleep, and make a plan thanks to the people here. Thank you!
I am doing much, much better. Have met some great people I would have missed out on if that experience didn't happen, my own health is fine now, and I'm really happy. In fact, it's funny how things worked out - a guy I've been interested in for some time, but was too scared to say anything to, reached out as a result of what happened with the other guy. And that seems to be going well :)
I wanted to take the time to write this so that you know what a difference you made for me. Thank you all so much.
I was dating someone with PTSD who was transitioning out of the military, and seemed to be isolating. I had not known him that long but we had a lot of discussions about what he was going through. Then he practically dropped off the face of the earth, and his phone started having issues. I was very worried based on how he was acting, what he said triggered him, and his history of depression.Even Veteran's Affairs couldn't reach him on the same phone number to check on how his transition was going. We were all concerned he needed help.
I was going through health issues of my own - I didn't realize why I felt so anxious and stressed and couldn't sleep. It turned out my thyroid medicine was way too high. That has happily been fixed but experiencing that at the same time made things all that much worse.
Everyone here took the time to talk to me in chat, explain more from personal experience about isolation and how to reach out or what he might be going through, and was very supportive.It was a very stressful experience that wasn't easy to talk about with friends or family. The information I found in the forum was more helpful than anything I found elsewhere, too.
I did find out what happened - turned out that the single guy I had been dating for a few months wasn't single after all, and that's why he disappeared. I found out by accident when I thought I was checking with a friend of his who happened to be his significant other. The whole concept of a person I trusted that much and who was planning a future with me putting me through that amount of worry and lying that extensively pretty well put me into shock. I did follow up with the VA so that they could follow up with him, but after that I was focused on myself.
You all helped me again that weekend. I was emotional, exhausted, and couldn't relax or sleep for anything for at least 48 hours. But people talked to me in chat and supported me, and when I asked for help, you all gave me more useful advice in 15 minutes than I had gotten from a day of looking for myself. Breathing exercises, relaxation ideas, e-counseling links if I needed it, opinions on whether it would actually be useful or a waste of time to go to an urgent care or an ER since it was a weekend. My brain was so fried at that point I needed someone to tell me what to do. I was able to relax, get some food, get some sleep, and make a plan thanks to the people here. Thank you!
I am doing much, much better. Have met some great people I would have missed out on if that experience didn't happen, my own health is fine now, and I'm really happy. In fact, it's funny how things worked out - a guy I've been interested in for some time, but was too scared to say anything to, reached out as a result of what happened with the other guy. And that seems to be going well :)
I wanted to take the time to write this so that you know what a difference you made for me. Thank you all so much.
