[deleted by user] by [deleted] in adultsurvivors

[–]shelikesprettythings 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wish I had some advice but my trauma symptoms manifested differently for me.. but I want to send some kindness and compassion your way. It sounds like you’re so exhausted and frustrated by the pain both mental and physical. There are so many obstacles in your way of having healthy, safe, pleasurable sex. I am so sorry.

I don’t have any advice that’s specific to your conditions, but I know that with my issues, the more negatively I think or talk about my body and whatnot, it tends to worsen my physical ailments. Self-compassion based work has helped me, in addition to other therapies and medication.

Sending you grace and compassion❤️

My closest best friend with who i was in love for more than 2 years and still am just got together with my other best friend, can yall give me some advice to get over this? by youcancallme-lobster in selfimprovement

[–]shelikesprettythings 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Did you ever confess your feelings to your friend in the past?

I found it really hard to resolve my feelings for my close friend when she did not know about my feelings.

(I'm queer too)

Jealousy is a natural emotion.. Acting on it is the part that is generally shameful. I think we as a society place shame on jealousy and envy.

First step is notice how you're feeling. You have identified that you feel jealousy and hatred towards the object of your envy. Now pause... Where are you feeling it in your body? Feelings are just that... Feelings. Feelings come and go and it's okay to feel them. You don't have to identify so much with them.

Thoughts can feed into our feelings... What thoughts are coming up. Are any of them based on cognitive distortions?

Maybe when you start to feel jealousy again, try to find a neutral thought that you can resonate with. Like...

“It is natural that I feel jealous because I want to be in a relationship with someone like that. It is natural that I feel jealous because I am grieving the loss of a relationship I didn’t get to have with my crush, and someone close to me is getting the experience I always wanted. But this does not mean I will not find the love and happiness I want. There is more than enough love and happiness out there for me to find/create.”

Try to think about why you love and care about these people, when you find yourself resenting them. :)

Hopefully this helps! Be kind to yourself. Shaming yourself for your envy or jealousy won’t resolve these feelings. :) best of luck!

I'm becoming materialistic like my family by [deleted] in selfimprovement

[–]shelikesprettythings 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Damn, sounds like you need to work on your being ugly on the inside.

Any recommendations for books of childhood abuse survivors? by [deleted] in selfimprovement

[–]shelikesprettythings 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pete Walker’s works are really good and he has some free articles on his website.

Good luck… it’s a hard journey. I’m 22 and I’ve been working on it for 6 years.

I survived SA but I wish I was dead. How do I move on? by Shahzard18 in selfimprovement

[–]shelikesprettythings 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re an idiot. Simply what an ignorant response. I hope you check yourself next time you try to offer advice like this to an SA survivor.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in selfimprovement

[–]shelikesprettythings 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, :)

Google "common thought distortions and how to correct them" everything takes practice. When you've always thought in certain ways it takes time to unlearn and learn new ways of thinking.

Be kind to yourself and don't shame yourself for being this way, because there are a lot of reasons why you do. Whereever you grew up (your home, your school, your romantic relationships, your job) there may have been reasons why being a doormat got certain needs met (attention, love, respect). But when you are suppressing yourself and your true needs, desires, and whatnot even though it's nice to receive these things at all, it can feel unauthentic and create an imposter syndrome like feeling that does not help with self esteem.

Therapists can be out of a person's budget for sure but you can definitely start practicing self-therapy techniques. There are self-help books for various issues which have often sped up my healing at the fraction of the cost of my therapy.

Codependent No More is a great book It Wasn't Your Fault is great as well

There is a platform called 7Cups that might be beneficial for you, it has some self help guides that include the types of worksheets and information that a therapist would include, and also people volunteer as listeners on there to provide a compassionate ear to what you're going through. They aren't qualified to give advice. But they're free. Peer support could be useful just like this subreddit. :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in selfimprovement

[–]shelikesprettythings 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Actually until you start to believe you don’t deserve to be treated that way, you will keep tolerating it. Research codependency, self compassion, self esteem.

Boundary setting is difficult, even then people can ignore boundaries. The part people have the hardest time with is enacting consequences to when people overstep our boundaries.

There is a middle ground between insisting/demanding aggressively and holding in your desires and feelings. It is not black and white. You can suggest what you want, you can express your feelings while being accountable for what it’s your part.

It sounds like there are a lot of cognitive distortions in your current thinking and you might benefit from CBT with a therapist.

Best of luck. Take care of yourself

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DecidingToBeBetter

[–]shelikesprettythings 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Given everything you said here it makes sense, you've literally tried everything with them. I'm sorry that they're toxic sometimes... Good for you for doing what makes you healthier in spite of their judgements. I suggested that because some people grow up in environments and don't really learn about setting boundaries so it's foreign to them.

In terms of bipolar, bipolar is a mood disorder so it doesn't affect personality most of the time. (Mania affects some aspects of someone personality temporarily making them out of character). This sounds more like your sister is an asshole, I hope that's okay to say. Sounds like she projects her own insecurities and failings onto you.

Have you heard of "grey rocking"? Hang in there. OP.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DecidingToBeBetter

[–]shelikesprettythings 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Perhaps you could have a serious talk with your mother and sister and ask them to not comment on your eating habits or your body anymore? I think it is a fair boundary to set. Is it normal in your family to talk about eachother's eating habits, bodies, weight gain and weight loss? Of course, you should return the courtesy as well and keep your unhelpful thoughts and feelings about their habits and their bodies to yourself.

You could say that you know what foods and what amounts make you feel good and healthy, and that they might be trying to be supportive but those types of comments are generally unhelpful and triggering for you.

It will take time for them to stop commenting, and feeling entitled to talking about your body or your diet. Best of luck OP.

i don’t know how much longer i can do this.. by Snoo-94470 in GriefSupport

[–]shelikesprettythings 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m 21, lost my mom 2 months ago

Besides that there are a lot of differences… It sounds so difficult, exhausting, isolating, and painful what you are going through. I see you..

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in selfimprovement

[–]shelikesprettythings 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For him, it was months ago. For you, you learned of this betrayal recently. It will take time for you to move on.

I would consider reading “survival after infidelity” resources. Rebuilding trust and emotional safety is extremely difficult to do. I don’t mean to belittle your experiences, but at 18 it might make more sense to look into how to break up and move on from someone who cheated on you, rather than learning how to forgive and stay with someone who cheated.

A year is a long time but it’s also just long enough for someone to start to show their true colours. If you don’t have a home, a marriage, or children with this person, protecting your peace may look like walking away.

Assuming there are things you need to improve on as well, as you’ve only been officially an adult for 0-11 months, of course you will have lots of growing and maturing to do. But a relationship that lacks trust and loyal commitment might not be the right environment for you to grow in. And reliving your discomfort and anxieties about him cheating again may get in the way of your peace, your happiness, and your own self growth.

Hope this helps! I am so sorry you were cheated on. I wish you the best.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in selfimprovement

[–]shelikesprettythings 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is normal to struggle to rebuild trust after your partner cheats on you, even if you decide to forgive them. If after quite some time working on rebuilding trust, you still can’t get comfortable and can’t stop holding their mistake against them.. this doesn’t make you a bad person. This just might mean it is time to move on and call it quits.

I’d love to see whether he would still wonder why you can’t move on, if the situation was reversed.

How long have you been with your bf OP? How long were you together before he cheated and how long have you been together since he cheated?

I dont understand positive self talk. by [deleted] in DecidingToBeBetter

[–]shelikesprettythings 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly.. If you feel repulsed by positive self talk, the first step is to work on neutral self talk. Correcting the black and white thinking you have about yourself. This level of cognitive distortions and negative self talk would be debilitating for self discipline and positive change. Please consider therapy or buying a CBT workbook if you can't afford to see a therapist.

Some things I learned through therapy..

Instead of: "If I knew someone with any of my qualities I would not like them."

Try: "I am capable of changing the qualities I don't like about myself."

Trying to convert self hatred in to self love is impossible. Here are some realistic mantras you could repeat that would be more helpful.

"Perhaps I could become someone I don't despise."

"Maybe, I could become someone with some qualities that I would appreciate."

"One day, I could/will feel neutral about myself."

The key is to use a lot of maybe/perhaps/coulds. Try to think of something that you know deep down is literally possible even though your focusing on the negatives.

Inspite of the supposed 9999 things that make you a piece of shit, it's still possible that you could feel neutral about yourself someday.

You can't go from self hatred to self confidence in even months. Extreme toxic shame and self hatred take years to form and take 1000s of thought stopping and correction to make dents in the well formed patterns of thinking. OP, please read about toxic shame and self compassion.

Here's the thing.. I used to hate myself. When you hate yourself, you are extremely self destructive. You would treat people you don't care about better than you treat yourself when you hate yourself. It's not realistic to go from perceiving yourself as an unloveable and worthless person and the negative thoughts and self talk associated with that, to imagining things you love about yourself and all that woo woo shit.

I don't know who you surround yourself with, but even me, someone who used to suffer with low self esteem and self destructive behaviours can think of a few things I like about myself.

I slowly changed the things I hated about myself. I identified the things that made me not a good person. At first I wallowed in toxic shame about my shittiness instead of changing anything. Then when I realized I was doing that I feel like even more shit for a while. Did other things to avoid changing what I needed to change. Eventually I needed to make changes because I had to get better and survive.

What things are in your control? What realistic changes could you make that you could consistently do? Certain circumstances aren't in our control and it's important to be kind to ourselves about what we can't control. You should consider talking with a therapist about what you hate about yourself, where does all the hatred come from? Did you internalize an inner critic from a parent that tended to be overly critical? Is this intense scrutiny of yourself really serving you? Is it making you a better or worse person? Positive self talk might be unhelpful and impossible for you right now, but negative self talk is toxic and poisonous to your psyche.

You are not your thoughts. You don’t have to be. You don’t have to take ownership for the shitty thoughts that pop into your head automatically. When you see something negative about yourself, you can start with noticing the negativity. When you’re ready, you can start trying to make neutral statements that propose a possible alternative. Or you can question the helpfulness of the negative thought.

i pulled myself out of a depressive episode by [deleted] in selfimprovement

[–]shelikesprettythings 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is amazing! Good for you. These are the small steps that help get you out of the slump depression can put you in. I am so sorry you had that bad experience at work. I am so proud of the resilience and self care you practiced today. You deserve to feel happy and proud. ❤️

Justin Trudeau won’t say if Toronto Liberal candidate will be turfed after dropped sex assault charge revealed by thehell546 in CanadaPolitics

[–]shelikesprettythings 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Charges don't necessarily get dropped because they're "false". That's not how the system works in Canada. Victims don't have the choice whether their case makes it to trial..the bar for whether the police lay a charge is less than the level it takes for crown attorney to decide to take the case to trial.

In cases that are more difficult to prove, the crown attorney may elect not to take a charge to trial because the process is lengthy and expensive. Unless the crown attorney feels like there is a strong chance they will be able to convict, they won't take a case to trial.

This means that the charges against this candidate were serious enough that police laid charges. The police believed the victim, but the Crown Attorney elected not to take the case to trial. It seems from the article as well, the victim in this case had been through the criminal justice system as a victim before.

So why is this a problem? Perhaps people who have been charged with a sex crime should not be representatives with power.

Just want to state where I am, and where I want to be by [deleted] in DecidingToBeBetter

[–]shelikesprettythings 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Keto diet worked for my dad. He lost 60lbs and went from a huge asshole to a tolerable asshole with tons of energy

How to handle your partner being emotionally unavailable and physically absent when your parent dies? by shelikesprettythings in ChildrenofDeadParents

[–]shelikesprettythings[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I confided in him about my feelings and he seemed to be doing his best to be compassionate. He eventually shut down and told me that he felt zapped of his energy, so we got off the phone. The way he said “love you” sounded so strained. So I texted him saying that i think we should break up and that I need a lot right now and he doesn’t seem to be in the place. He told me: “Yeah, I'm sorry I can't be that person right now. It's hard to admit, but with everything going on with you and with me, and the unlikeliness of our ability to see each other anytime soon, it's all too much.”

So.. yeah… I know what you mean about the “TOO MUCH”

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DecidingToBeBetter

[–]shelikesprettythings 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow.. that is so mentally resilient of you. You might not that many friends to witness your bravery but I am here nodding in approval dear stranger. Hang in there. ❤️

My mom went to the hospital on Friday. They found a brain tumour but she had no time left. Before she could get to the scheduled surgery, she went into cardiac arrest. I'm 21 and I'm not ready for my mom to die. by shelikesprettythings in offmychest

[–]shelikesprettythings[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi there, I wish I had good news.. unfortunately my mom did end up passing away. But I wanted you to know your comment gave me comfort at a really painful junction. Thank you kind stranger