I started out in therapy to battle my claustrophobia and it helped. I use to have to be medicated to ride an elevator, it took a bit but I was able to overcome that battle. I have since regressed because I had to stop therapy for awhile. But now I'm getting back on track. I have learned that I am capable of controlling my mindset in the moment when I feel trapped. It's a start.

Think About It

Don't judge your feelings, just try to understand where they're coming from. Judge your actions.

Penny_wish

Oh Jack!

You can't control the actions of others, and you can't presume to know their motivations either.

A simple example would be "Jack is always drumming his fingers on the desk to annoy me. He knows I hate that!"

The fact is that, unless Jack tells you that, you cannot know if that's his motivation. Most likely, he's doing it absent-mindedly.

I know it's a silly example, but it applies to a lot of things. We tend to be very self-centred in our thinking.

Snugglor

10 Year Later

After I lost my oldest daughter to trisomy 18 anger was my go to emotional response to most things. I either cried or yelled. It felt impossible to process or move beyond because I felt so bitter at the unfair world I lived in. It didn't help I have abusive parents who were making things so much worse through their scumminess. I couldn't stand being any more depressed than I was. I could barely get out of bed. I definitely had to learn to process my emotions. That was almost 10 years ago. If I hadn't gone to therapy and put the work in I don't know who I would be today.

Viperbunny

IF YOU DON'T TELL THEM...

One big thing I've learned is that someone might not know what they're doing is annoying you/hurt your feelings/offended you IF YOU DON'T TELL THEM. One of my friends critiqued a video of my training my dog but the way she went about it was unexpected and really hurt my feelings. I knew she meant well but she wouldn't know how bad it made me feel if I didn't tell her.

So I told her...

She apologized because it was not how she meant to come across. But since we had the conversation we were able to come up with an agreement that she would only critique videos if I sent them to her asking for help. And she ended up thanking me for telling her and said she was so happy that I felt safe enough to know she wasn't going to retaliate against me for it.

Different-Eggplant

Time Heals

Give yourself permission to grieve.

Not just for the loss of loved ones, but for anything that makes you feel sad.

Kindergoat

So far, so enlightening. I hope y'all are taking notes. Too often we think that our problems don't merit help. As you can see we are often wrong. Let's continue...

No Excuses

That my past trauma and upbringing aren't excuses for my bad behavior, and i have to be the one to break the cycle.

GeneralDirgud

Your Story

Acknowledge your feelings - and I mean ALL of your feelings.

Never give up on a NEW path or a modified path to your goals. Disc herniation received from a job I detested. It's been more than 3 decades ago... and wow does time fly.

Accepting this new path was hard for me, but the "choice" of the matter was taken from me, but one thing I would NOT give up was finding a true love.

Met online, married darn near 15 years now, best decision I ever made was NOT giving up!!!

Decided, I couldn't go out and shake my moneymaker lol, but daaamn I found online dating and the rest is "her story" i.e. my story of not giving up!!

PennoyerintheFoyer

Samesies...

My big, huge, existential emotional and psychological issues are actually NOT special — they're just like millions of other people's — and do not make me special. Learning to let them go is not a betrayal of who I am and will not make me less unique or interesting.

farwent

It is so it is...

I can live with/accept what I went through because I like where and who I am now (mostly). That was a huge success.

bananasplit0312

I think about this a lot.

If anything, at all, was different I might not be married to my wife.

If my parents stayed married, or my wife and I had sex ten minutes later, I wouldn't have these specific daughters who I love more than anything. Butterfly effect and all that.

It makes it so much easier to accept that everything I went through had to happen just like it did, but the future is wide open.

Wonderful_Warthog310

BYE!!

Not all relationships are worth saving.

MorgainofAvalon

It's important to realize that needing therapy isn't a handicap. It's an enrichment. If you're trepidatious, just try one session. There are plenty of docs in your area that work with payments. You won't regret it.