Are you feeling like your thoughts, feelings, or actions aren’t well under control?
Do you see others who seem genuinely happy and wish you could feel that way, too?
Let’s check in for a moment, shall we? How are you doing?
Strong emotions are leaking out in inconvenient and uncontrollable ways and you want a break from the distress. You’re feeling jittery or unsettled, nervous, panicked, depressed, or irritable. You may even feel it in your body – your head, jaw, muscles, or guts may hurt or no longer ‘work’ quite the way they are supposed to. You thought this stuff was just temporary, and if you keep your chin up you could work it out. But, now you’re noticing creeping hopelessness that you can fix this on your own. To be honest, keeping your chin up is getting harder by the day.
Your life hasn’t worked out exactly as you’ve planned and when you look in the mirror you barely recognize yourself. The happiness and playfulness you once experienced have faded into feelings of anxiousness, panic, and insecurity. The people you’ve trusted the most have taken advantage of you leaving you feeling “worthless” and “depressed”. You long for connection, yet doubt that anyone would really understand what you’re going through. You look to online forums for comfort and support sparing you the embarrassment of face-to-face contact, but still feel empty inside. It seems as if there’s no way to escape these painful feelings you’re experiencing now and you just want to “zone out and feel numb”.
You’re tired of “walking on eggshells” and having your stomach “tied in knots”.
For as long as you can remember, you’ve wanted to feel loved and important. When you look around you notice and admire people who have happy marriages. You long for communication that doesn’t involve “yelling” and being “put down”, feeling as if you’ll “never be enough”. You wonder if you will ever be a “good parent” and fear the stress of trying to “juggle it all” contributes to your inability to sleep and chronic pain.
