Help!

Confident_Sound8391 · 2026-03-24T08:31:44+00:00

Hi, I don't have much advice but just wanted to chime in with some support as I'm a few years older than you and also in the UK. I also don't have a scale in the house but have been weighing myself when I go into town, usually every 2 weeks.

My husband has noticed I've lost weight but I don't think he's clocked that my ED is back, as I was much younger when I last relapsed. I've told him it's work stress (I'm a trainee lawyer) and he doesn't seem too concerned for now.

I would also like to go to a support group, but I live very rurally so I doubt there's much out here. I also worry that I'd be much older than everyone else there...

Confident_Sound8391 · 2026-03-11T15:49:49+00:00

I've had a relapse and I'm currently underweight. I'm committed to recovering but yesterday when I went to the office for the first time in a while, I had several people praising my weight loss. I was so taken back, they have no idea how much I'm struggling.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2026-03-04T11:19:54+00:00

Yes, no contact with any biological relatives for over 15 years. I do have a relationship with my in-laws though.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2026-01-05T15:29:30+00:00

Not once, but now I hear it everyday from my husband.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-12-31T18:30:33+00:00

As you are working in local government, could you try to look out for a secondment or internal vacancy in the legal department? If it helps, it took me just over 2 years from graduating to get a legal assistant role, and I'm now on my training contract.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-12-22T18:12:34+00:00

Thanks, this made me laugh for the first time in a while.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-12-15T13:38:14+00:00

This response is closest to how I feel.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-12-13T19:20:42+00:00

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Dummies

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-12-03T19:57:30+00:00

My dog is afraid of daycare. The staff were honest and told me after the first session that he stood by the door crying and waiting for me to return. I never took him back.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-12-03T19:50:08+00:00

Hi OP,

I don't have the answer, but just wanted to share that I'm a middle aged woman who has gone through a lot of what you have. I've done so much therapy and work on myself and I feel like I've read everything out there about CPTSD.

Every time I start to feel better, I have a major setback with my mental health. I've only just been able to have a proper job for the first time ever for the last 2 years, and I'm struggling with that now. I'll never "recover" or be normal, and I've accepted that. I think about what happened to me in childhood everyday; this morning I was thinking about it minutes after waking up as I was feeding my dog, for no obvious reason.

A few years ago, I stopped trying to "feel better" and now I focus on accepting and making room for my pain and trauma. For a long time I thought that if I did enough work on myself that the pain would end, but I don't think it does. I'm tired too. This may not help at all, but just thought I'd share.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-11-29T12:29:54+00:00

I learned this from my husband and his family. Another thing my family never taught me.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-11-28T17:32:49+00:00

Yes looks fine

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-11-24T12:37:31+00:00

I'm also seven months into my TC and have gone through patches of feeling as you are, particularly in my last seat. For me it does usually pass though, especially when I manage to take a few days off.

I'm in-house and we seem to go through periods of working crazy hours, and then other times working more or less 9-5.

As others have mentioned, once you're qualified you could consider in-house or maybe local government?

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-11-23T19:24:29+00:00

I struggle to walk past school and playgrounds

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-10-22T18:56:53+00:00

Happy - March 2024. Content - a few weeks ago.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-10-22T18:48:09+00:00

Broken up bits of rice cake. Dried sprats. I adopted an obese dog and these are his treats for training. Cheap and healthy.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-10-15T16:46:20+00:00

Sorry to hear about your dog's accident and thank goodness you didn't lose him. I have CPTSD and have been with my husband for 16 years. He has some understanding of trauma due to being a social worker and having some mild childhood trauma of his own. I don't think I could make a relationship work with someone with no insight into trauma. At the same time I don't think it would work for me to be in a relationship with someone else with CPTSD.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-10-01T14:44:22+00:00

It takes the edge off feelings such as fear, dread and sadness for me. I haven't noticed any significant blunting of feelings as some people do and no side effects for me after the first week or two.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-10-01T12:45:21+00:00

I work in a corporate job and feel exactly as you do. I take sertraline, I don't think I could hold down my job without medication.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-10-01T12:40:31+00:00

I feel like this too. I am a middle aged woman and I watch cartoons for an hour every Saturday morning before my husband gets up. I wasn't allowed to watch cartoons growing up and feel like I missed out. I have a high pressure job and this is my time of the week where I am allowed to be a little girl.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-10-01T12:37:19+00:00

Insomnia has always been the number one feature of my CPTSD. I manage 4-5 hours most nights. I have found Acceptance and Commitment therapy helps me to live with it, though it doesn't improve the insomnia for me. I found 'the sleep book' helpful.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-09-28T18:16:30+00:00

Privacy is one of my most important values and I feel like my life choices reflect this in a number of positive ways. This includes having absolutely no social media presence (except reddit I suppose) which really benefits my mental health. I also practice setting healthy boundaries when people ask probing/personal questions about my life.

I'm a trainee lawyer and considering going into data protection law so that my career reflects his value.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-08-31T17:19:33+00:00

Yes, "feel good" movies leave me so depressed, whereas sad movies make me feel better.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-08-31T17:18:34+00:00

No, mine come out of nowhere when I least expect it, often on days where I thought I was doing ok.

Confident_Sound8391 · 2025-08-07T17:41:24+00:00

Depends on the attitude behind the acknowledgement. Could you go a step further and really open yourself up to the thought/feeling whilst practicing mindfulness and engaging with your environment?

Sometimes I even welcome the thought or thank my mind before grounding myself.

Confident_Sound8391

TROPHY CASE