Dazed and confused

[jammy]

This is my first post and I will jump right in. We have a just over a year that included my mother in law dying, then within 6 months two other relatives died. I had to organise and put both of my parents in a nursing home while dealing with family in denial about their condition. Two old friends died as well. I work part time as a carer and am my husbands carer as he has a number of serious physical problems, as well as PTSD. This past year has obviously been hell for him with three family deaths, among others, and now me cracking up.I saw a psycologist to help deal with the stress and depression, and she confirmed that my parents were indeed abusive throughout my childhood, and up to now really at the ripe old age of 57.I feel great relief on having this confirmed as my sister has always denied it happens ( Iwas a constant disappointment, she - the golden haired girl) but also angry, sad, generally brassed -off! How do I deal with all of these issues and stay sane.

[Neil_1]

Dear Jammy

Firstly I'd like to extend a warm welcome to you to Beyond Blue and to thank you for coming here and providing your post.

2014 certainly wasn't a good year for you (as well as for your husband) - I think there was just something bad about that year - but that's another story.

With all that you've got on your plate at the moment, I'm not surprised that having the confirmation of childhood abuse was the last straw for you.  And I cannot imagine how it would feel to have suffered from that, nor with the hangover of having to live with that as well - and now the confirmation.

Oh and before we go any further, you said "and now with me cracking up" - that's just not right, I'm sorry.  You've suffered so much for such a long period of time and now with certain things happened of late, it's really like a wall inside your mind has been broken down and you've got all these feelings and emotions bursting through.  To me, that's not cracking up - it's just issues and emotions that are overwhelming you and you are quite right in seeking out assistance with this.

Now usually when you get to see a psychologist, you need a referral from a GP;  so can I assume that you've been to the GP as well?   Another question:   do (did) you feel comfortable with both your GP and your psychologist?   This is important as they being the treating professionals and with the experience and knowledge (and coping mechanisms to put into place) it's important that there is a good rapoire with these folk.  I hope you feel that this is the case.   And if so, you asked how do you deal with these issues - I believe it's a case of getting a few things in place.  Firstly a GP and psyche appointment schedule that you feel ok to maintain;  and perhaps the GP may prescribe some medication for you as well, just to help, "lighten" the load for you.

Being 57, you're still young (I'm only 8 years your junior), so I'm venturing here to find whether you're able to take on any physical activity - and that can be anything;  because being able to do this is a big benefit;  keeping healthy as well as occupying the mind are great things to implement.

Also hobbies, interests?  They can be very important to assist as well.

I'm running out of characters, so will send this off now.

Thank you again for posting and I do hope to hear back from you.

Kind regards

Neil