Overwhelmed and struggling to cope

[Feya]

This is my first post so I apologise in advance if I use this feature wrong.

These last 2 years have been the hardest time of my life. I moved to the other side of the country to be with my partner. I left my job, my family and all of my friends behind and moved in with my S.O and his parents. I have a long history of PTSD and anxiety disorders and over the last 2 years, the move has brought it all to the surface. I have been unemployed this whole time, not made a single friend and also lost all of my old ones. My family has basically just forgotten about me and the house I'm living in triggers my PTSD daily. I just finished up 10 sessions with a therapist and I'm a lot better now. The thing is that now that I'm getting better, all of my emotions that have been numbed away are coming to the surface and I feel like I'm drowning. 2 years worth of pain just sits in my mind trying to be healed and released but it is SO overwhelming. My mental health consumes my every moment and sometimes I just pray for a break for even 5 minutes. I have no one to talk to - my boyfriend tries but he can never fully understand. I don't have anyone else.

I feel like the last 2 year's have broken me so much that now that I'm in the space where I'm healthier, im stuck trying to pick up the pieces. But there's so much. And it's all hard. I feel overwhelmed. I'm struggling to deal with all of this on my own and I just don't know how to help myself anymore

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Feya,

How lovely of you to join us here on the forums. I hope you’re feeling welcome. feel there’s nothing to apologise for...you seem to be doing well with posting and it’s all a bit trial and error 😉

You sound as though you’re feeling lonely, overwhelmed and drained. I realise that sometimes a change in environment (e.g. relocations) can trigger all kinds of emotions and issues...

Good on you for seeing a psychologist (presumably?) about your struggles. I think that was very brave and I love how you have been trying hard to help yourself.

That being said, I also understand how rough it can be to feel as though there is very limited personal support. Professional support and personal support just aren’t the same...I feel it must be hard that your boyfriend, despite his good intentions and efforts, doesn’t truly understand...

I think that I, to some extent, get what you’re saying about how now that you’re starting to feel better than the emotions are surfacing. I feel that makes a lot of sense...I imagine they have always been there, but now perhaps you’re processing and becoming aware of a fuller range of your emotions...

I’m not exactly what would be most helpful to you. But I wonder if figuring out ways to manage some of those emotions might help?

For example, if it’s anxiety related to your PTSD, I think perhaps you might like to consider strategies like grounding exercises. I suppose what I’m getting at is maybe finding strategies to manage your symptoms will hopefully make daily life less distressing over time...

Also, purely as another gentle suggestion...I wonder if you might be interested in looking up some beyondblue threads for tips to manage your struggles:

• Self-help tips for managing anxiety
• Self-help tips for managing depression
• Complex PTSD - what is it and how do we cope?

If you’re interested, I think the easiest way is to type the above titles in the beyondblue search bar. I think they are all long threads though. So if the length is a bit overwhelming, I would gently suggest taking your time or only reading the first and/or last page of those threads...

It would be great to hear how things go with you whenever you feel like chatting, venting, etc. There’s obviously no pressure to share more than you want, but just know we are here if you need us...

Kindness and care,

Pepper