Hello Stephy, looks like a few new people to the forums have been missed having replies, I hope you don't think we're ignoring you! Sometimes there are just so many posts. So I hope you are still reading.
For me I have found in the long run that seeing a psychologist and learning better coping skills and learning about my 'life traps' has been the most beneficial. I have always been an insular kind of person so having the ability to be able to step back and understand how my crazy brain sees the world makes a big difference in times of strsss.
For me the best skills I have learned are actually summed up in a wonderful little book called The Happiness Trap, which is written by a psychologist and is based on a type of therapy called 'acceptance and commitment therapy'. The basic thing underlying it is learning to accept emotions and thoughts, good and bad, and not fight against them which makes them ten times worse.
Another type of therapy I have done is called 'schema therapy' where you get asked a series of questions about your life and you can see patterns of triggers like abandonment.
I have also been on probably every type of medication under the sun, some better than others, but ultimately I think it is the therapy that has helped the most for me.
