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Chris_B PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: 3 important tips to get the most out of this section
  • replies: 0

Hi everyone, The Relationships & Family Issues section is one of the busiest here on our forums. It's also one of the areas where we find members can get themselves into trouble! Before posting here, take a deep breath and be mindful of the following... View more

Hi everyone, The Relationships & Family Issues section is one of the busiest here on our forums. It's also one of the areas where we find members can get themselves into trouble! Before posting here, take a deep breath and be mindful of the following 3 tips: 1. Do you really want to share this with the world? This is a public forum. Are you thinking of posting something that could identify you to a friend or family member? Once you've posted, you can't delete what you've written and we don't take posts down from here unless they've broken one of our community rules. This is because our members spend a lot of time composing replies, and there is a much wider audience that gets a lot out of reading what has been written. It's not fair to ask the community for support, then ask to have it removed once you've read it so others can't also benefit. Use discretion when posting here - think about the level of detail you are sharing, and think also about who might know you are posting here. Also, please keep it clean: this is an all ages forum and explicit discussions about sexual problems are not permitted. Threads and posts of this nature will be removed and your account placed on a moderation hold. 2. What do you want to get out of posting here? Relationship and family issues are stressful. Members sometimes post here seeking advice about a relationship that has broken down, but find themselves getting upset when they don't agree with the response they get. This is a peer support forum, meaning we are not mental health professionals. We are people of all ages and backgrounds, with a wide range of life experiences. While we aim for our discussions to be conducted respectfully, people here will respond with the truth as they see it, from their own experiences and perspectives. We are not here to take sides. Offence is almost never intentional, but it can be sometimes taken. The advice you will see here is not intended to be a substitute for professional counselling. 3. What other support do you have? Most people posting on our forums (about any issue) use this space as a supplement to other supports. This forum is not and cannot be a substitute for offline supports, but it is often a good place to start the ball rolling and find the courage for seeking help. If you are relying solely on an internet forum to resolve your relationship or family issues, you are likely to be disappointed. Check out the Healthy Homes section of our Healthy Families website for further information and resources.

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miel1991 I need help, boyfriend won't speak to me
  • replies: 2

My boyfriend of 9 mths (friends for a year before) stopped speaking to me a month ago. He had been under a lot of stress/pressure for a while and told me many times he would need to cut back on communication to deal with it (we're long distance until... View more

My boyfriend of 9 mths (friends for a year before) stopped speaking to me a month ago. He had been under a lot of stress/pressure for a while and told me many times he would need to cut back on communication to deal with it (we're long distance until the end of next yr). Since I have abandonment issues and unresolved trauma (possibly remnants of PTSD), I kept flying into a frenzy and trying to seek reassurance from him that we were okay. His natural response (since he struggles with mood also) is to pull away and take space I think it got too much for him at one point because he'd asked me to stop blowing up his phone with messages/calls and I just lost it one night. Afterwards I apologised, told him I would take a break and a few days later sent him an apology acknowledging my issues. He already knows I have abandonment issues and unresolved trauma I have continued to apologise and send small, supportive messages every 4-5 days. Before when I was blowing up his phone, he wouldn't read them for a week but now he reads them almost instantly so I know he still cares. I have told him that I know I'm at fault and will wait for when he's ready to talk to me Thing is, I am not coping at all. I have constant anxiety, some days I can't get out of bed until 1pm, some nights I can't sleep. Some days I eat too much and other days I can hardly eat anything. I'm dreaming about him too, and in my dreams I'm trying to seek reassurance from him and he's quite literally running away, while all this crazy stuff is happening around us. I think a perfect metaphor for what's going on right now, my subconscious understands but my conscious mind won't let me have peace. Will he return? Should I keep talking to him with no response?Should I wait for him to contact me first, and if so, how long? This is hard for me since my abandonment issues require that I get some sort of closure - if I knew he wasn't coming back, that'd be okay, but I'm scared I'll just never hear from him again. I can't deal with that because it would be too cruel of him. I don't think he would have any issue telling me that we're done, I think the best explanation is he just can't cope with the relationship right now and I can't bring myself to say to him it's over because really this was my fault Does anyone know what I can do, either to speak to him on his level or to handle myself well in this situation? It's so damn hard

kingsalmon desperate & confused about relationships
  • replies: 3

I've already made another post but I feel it's a different topic. in the depression forum "reaching the end of my patience" I just want to write this because I'm feeling really confused about relationships, and always have been. Not so much relations... View more

I've already made another post but I feel it's a different topic. in the depression forum "reaching the end of my patience" I just want to write this because I'm feeling really confused about relationships, and always have been. Not so much relationships themselves, but other people's view of me having one. I keep telling people I want a relationship. I want a boyfriend. I want company. I'm lonely. Their respone is always "you don't have to have a relationship just because society says its normal, it's ok to be single" Everyone misses the part where I don't want to be single. I never said anything about feeling forced into a relationship by society. I never said being single is bad. I want a relationship because I want it. It's not a complicated desire. I know a relationship would improve my mental health. No one ever believes that and tells me to just find friends instead or tells me I'm fine the way I am. Again, missing my damn point. But I know it would help. I've had one relationship in my whole life - it was online, and it was full of manipulation and abuse and I still felt great, my grades were great, everything was great. I was being abused and it felt great because for the first time in my life I had company. I felt cured. I can only imagine a good partner will feel even better. I want someone to share my deepest, dumbest thoughts with, I want hugs and kisses, I want stupid romance, I want to be someone's favourite person in the world and them to be my favourite, I want someone who feels like an extension of me but is still a whole other being. But every time I talk about it... "learn to love yourself instead" "just make some friends first and then see how you feel" "you just need a distraction, here's a list of tafe courses, let me know if you're interested in any of them" Is there some serious problem with wanting a relationship when you're mentally ill? Like I'm sorry for wanting to share my life with someone...People make me feel like it's some kind of self harm - when they find out what I want, they do their best to talk me out of it, telling me my view is biased and it won't help me. They make me feel like the problem is me, not my loneliness. I feel like what I want is wrong and I really don't know anymore if it's ok for me to want this. Is it because mental illness is a burden? Are people actually just trying to protect someone else from dealing with me? Is that really what this is?

Roz64 father loss grief
  • replies: 1

Wondering if anyone else who has lost a parent particularly a father if your a daughter at a younger age. My query is this tomorrow I turn the same age as my beautiful dad passed away and I'm feeling weird emotions and more tears than I can handle is... View more

Wondering if anyone else who has lost a parent particularly a father if your a daughter at a younger age. My query is this tomorrow I turn the same age as my beautiful dad passed away and I'm feeling weird emotions and more tears than I can handle is this normal as you journey through that milestone birthday???

CosmosMary Feel so sad at having no friends at 58.. Lonely
  • replies: 4

I dont know if anyone else feels like me, but at 58 I find myself so lonely and without social interaction. I suffer anxiety and get nervous if I think about having conversations with anyone knew, or familiar, I so scared that I wont know what to say... View more

I dont know if anyone else feels like me, but at 58 I find myself so lonely and without social interaction. I suffer anxiety and get nervous if I think about having conversations with anyone knew, or familiar, I so scared that I wont know what to say or do so thus I avoid people which makes me feel worse..I sometimes can't seem the sense in what my purpose is on this earth. I feel faulty misfit to our society. I think I have heaps to give but too scared to. I dont particularly like people as most of them have hidden agendas. I cant read signals in people, good or bad. I even feel estranged from by 2 sons. I try to fit in but i really do feel like a square peg going into a round hole...

Platinum My depression catalysed the relationship breakdown
  • replies: 6

My boyfriend broke up with me last weekend because he felt choked by my depression/anxiety and the thought of us going out in public together gave him anxiety. He said we both needed space to recover from the damage my problems did to us both. It rea... View more

My boyfriend broke up with me last weekend because he felt choked by my depression/anxiety and the thought of us going out in public together gave him anxiety. He said we both needed space to recover from the damage my problems did to us both. It really hurts to have the blame for this placed solely with me. What are my problems? There are quite a few and I won't recount them here. Imaging a series of unfortunate events spanning nine years of your life and you'll get an idea. My depression and anxiety, my monster, grew within me during those years. I reluctantly tried antidepressants this year and, as I thought, finding the right one was an awful experience. My boyfriend took a break from me during a couple of the trials, which only made my mental state worse. I should have left him then. I did find a medication that helped! I was getting better – but not enough to keep him around. Since he ended it I've been angry, depressed and listless. People keep saying I'll be better off without him in the long run... I want to believe them but I can't see myself as worthy of love or affection because of this monster within me.

k-dog Can it work
  • replies: 3

Hey guys . So here go's . I have been married for ten years . We have hers mine and our children all living together. currently she is seeing someone else she met at counselling who was ment to be her support. She says she wants to work on us but at ... View more

Hey guys . So here go's . I have been married for ten years . We have hers mine and our children all living together. currently she is seeing someone else she met at counselling who was ment to be her support. She says she wants to work on us but at the moment this person is helping her understand why she cheats . My thoughts are that any advice he gives her is tainted as he is no longer impartial if they are sleeping together . We do love each other and still have sex . But today i said i could no longer work on us while he is in the picture . Very confusrd atm . Any advice welcome .

012DnR Does anyone experience pe inriodic relapses?
  • replies: 2

Two of my six kids have been estranged from me for four years now. Its been a most excruciating experience for all of us. My other kids are doing quite okay and we do keep an open dialogue about it. I can see improvement in my own emotional health bu... View more

Two of my six kids have been estranged from me for four years now. Its been a most excruciating experience for all of us. My other kids are doing quite okay and we do keep an open dialogue about it. I can see improvement in my own emotional health but every so often the pain bubbles up and wrecks me all over again. I get to feeling like I can accept it and I make great head ways on my recovery journey and then 'bam' it strikes me again... sometimes I see it coming and some times it surprises me. It always takes three to four weeks to get back to where I was before my sadness grips me again. It cripples me complete for two or three days. One thing that I have become aware of ( because I keep a diary of my mental health) is that the gaps between each "attack" ( I call it that because thats exactly how it feels) are getting longer. Does anyone else experience this? Any suggestions on how to reduce the damage that these attacks do to me and those that love and worry about me.

leavesofautumn Trying to hang on
  • replies: 10

I've never done anything like this before, I'm a very private person, but, after reading someone else's thread and seeing how warm and caring her responses were, i thought i could try it myself. I dont have any friends, i have acquaintances. I've tri... View more

I've never done anything like this before, I'm a very private person, but, after reading someone else's thread and seeing how warm and caring her responses were, i thought i could try it myself. I dont have any friends, i have acquaintances. I've tried many times to make and sustain friendships but it doesn't work out. I don't have anyone to talk to and the loneliness is horrendous. The family situation is complicated, stressful and toxic so I keep my distance from them also. I have a son, who is beautiful, kind and sweet. He is having a good few weeks but his life is mostly quite stressful with the challenges he faces. He is receiving good therapy for his autism and that is helping me feel hopeful. A lot of the time it is heartbreaking to watch him be rejected by peers and my family. School is stressful for him so on weekends and after school he refuses to leave the house, now he is refusing to go away on holiday over summer and we will be stuck at home every day for weeks. My life consists of work, caring for my son and exhaustion. I feel like all the people in my life are toxic for me, work, family, my sons father. I feel trapped living day by day in exhaustion and anxiety. Im trying to find ways to be positive and to not feel like I'm drowning but the fear of my son's father moving to australia next year and all the crap that comes with that is the final deflation on my life boat. He is incredibly difficult to deal with, i never know what agenda he is working towards and whether that involves manipulating my son. He has no normal boundaries and will do anything to be seen in a good light and says personal things to parents at school, teachers, my sons therapists, even my family or past friends and has no regard for how negatively that can affect me. He writes me emails or calls with blame, hatred, belittling and manipulation and the thought of that being on my door step, in my life on a daily basis is frightening.. it is relentless. The energy i have goes to my son, he needs me to be there, to support him - i can't give any energy to toxic people.. but now i have no one.. If anyone is out there reading this, i thank you for your time.. it means a lot to me

Allycc Help Please.
  • replies: 2

I have split up from my partner of two years, it doesn't seem very long however, we were attached at the hip. He broke up with me 4 month ago, he has persisted to contact me and check if I'm okay evenafter he has moved on, after just one month of the... View more

I have split up from my partner of two years, it doesn't seem very long however, we were attached at the hip. He broke up with me 4 month ago, he has persisted to contact me and check if I'm okay evenafter he has moved on, after just one month of the relationship ending, something he was not shy to share with the world. Whilst being with someone else has continually contacted making sure I'm okay? I have blatantly told him that he needs to stop contacting me. I'm really struggling with moving on, knowing to well that I mean absolutely nothing to this person anymore when they mean so so much to me still. How do I help myself to move on because I am so so sick of feeling the way I do and I am completely over the situation.