This needs to be higher. I'm still recovering from my last GF who used to beat me, and abuse me and then when I wanted out, stalked me.

Yes! This is also true for anxiety. A family member of mine suffers from anxiety and I can't count the times my aunts and uncles ask "But what are they anxious about?" This is not how it works!! 🙄

They totally don't understand. "How could you do that to your mum?" Because she's a fuuckiing biitchh, that's how.

So much this! And all of the side effects in your daily life because of it, things you wouldn't think of. Like not being able to cook meals for yourself often, which lead to you eating prepackaged stuff that is not good for you. And there is the devastation of knowing it won't ever change. It might get easier, but never go away completely.

The feeling in your gut that you will never be able to give one look and your loved one will know what you want to say. The shared memories, the laughs, little irritating things, a hug, working in the garden together, opening a bottle of good wine in front of the fire... I could go on and on. I was in shock the first few weeks after my husband passed away. And then WHAM it hits you. That's when the loss pulls you down. Thank God for family, friends, cheese and Pandas ❤️

Yes. My husband didn't understand why all my life decisions have been such massive risks and how failing or falling had dire consequences for me. He was so privileged to have the support of his family. He was never afraid to try anything, take a risk or loose it all because no matter what, he had a family who would catch him.

Prime example: global pandemic. War or natural disasters will change your fortune in an instant. War reduced my parents went from well educated, middle class teachers to refugees with not a penny to their name.

The fear is the worst. "Will it happen again?" Answer, probably yes. At least in my case.

My brother. Four tours in Iraq. Now spends 4th of July in a bathtub with a blanket over his head. it's been ten years.

Mine was not from war but it gave me empathy for those who have it even worse than I used to. It isn't 'rational' but you feel what you feel even though a part of your brain is rationally saying, "this thing that just triggered you is not that other thing that was real trauma". But you feel the same anyway so the head knowledge isn't very helpful in the moment. It took YEARS for it to fade and the sometimes I realize tiny hints of it still linger.

Not just from being in the military either. You can get it all sorts of ways

Camping in the boonies is very calming because you know how animals are going to act, people not so much

Had this since I was little

Some people don't get it despite having mental illness themselves! My stepdad is a prime example. My sister has ASD, ADHD and anxiety, he has anxiety, but doesn't understand why my mum has to support her so much, because he takes his pills and that means everything is okay for him. It's not that simple with her.

Many who experience homelessness for the first time become mentally ill and/or addicted because it is so very devastating. It certainly changes you, often on a very primal level.

The panic monster has been on my back all week. He's like some kind of bogyman. Always behind me these days. Usually about five minutes of spinning waking nightmares and then a few minutes of vomiting and I can get back to work again. i tell my coworkers they're just "dizzy spells".

That can be made exponentially worse, when you hear from others how she reversed the roles when explaining your relationship to new lovers, because they wanted to be the one to 'swoop in and be the hero'. Why worse, some could ask, because it means she knows exactly how badly she treated you, and was manipulative enough to use it for self benefit. I lost years trying to unwind that nightmare in my head.

it never stops hurting....losing both parents was far less painful, naturally expect parents to depart this mortal coil before us....but a child,I lost my only child some years back (he was 21) ...it does something to one's soul

It's horrible and most pain meds are useless against damaged nerves.

I relate so much to this. That level of exhaustion and sleep deprivation is hard to describe, but OP did well. I was at a point where I literally wasn't sure how I'd get through the next day and would just burst into tears because it all seemed so impossibly hard. Lack of sleep for an extended period of time really is hell.

When I was in Highschool I had a friend who had one at 12yo. Think about forcing a child to carry a child. This is what's happening in a post Roe world.

Yes! This needs to be higher. Having a child with a severe physical disability or a severe mental illness, or prone to violence, or all three, is the most soul-destroying experience you can imagine. And nobody understands who hasn't been through the experience, everybody blames the parents when the child misbehaves.

It changes you at the core. I lost my mom at nine years old and it is incomparable to loosing a parent later in life. My father died when I was an adult and it was deeply saddening, but loosing my mom so young turned me into a completely different person.

especially if you are undiagnosed and you grow up and diagnose yourself and realize your life could have been so different if you were diagnosed as a child.

It's REALLY expensive to be poor!

Trying to hide them when they happen in front of people, but it's hard to get a breath. Hyperventilating, sweating, and eventually vomiting.

To me the physical abuse was so much easier to heal from than the malicious deception The mental abuse leaves far deeper wounds.

Even an entirely smooth pregnancy and birth is difficult. I’m not a mother but a medical student and watching pregnant patients giving birth is one of the most painful things I’ve had to witness. Even if it’s watching teaching videos about labour and delivery, it’s hard to keep watching and I often look away. I’m not fazed by blood and body parts and can watch any other procedure and even open surgeries without any issue. Kudos to all moms out there for going through what is childbirth!

I was stuck for a long time before I realised that I didn't have to 'move on' but I could instead try to 'move forward' and that I could take my grief with me.

Yeah, this is definitely one of those things that's hard to truly understand if you haven't experienced it. Even with all the knowledge we have today regarding addiction, there are still people who assume it's solely some sort of moral failing. It isn't.

One thing one that I do not understand is why no one educates young people how awful it is getting old. Physical and mental functions that you have had all your life start to deteriorate and there is nothing you can do about it except die or take meds to prolong a declining situation.

Every time you say, that customer topped it, then there’s always another

I've never known any different (though the time between the hole in my eye being fixed and when I started needing to wear glasses it was not an everyday problem, but I did still have to get check ups all the time).

Narcissistic abuse is devastating

I survived, but two years of treatment left so many physical and mental scars. Especially the sometimes disabling fear that it will come back.

Upvote for the heading! And not just 'OCD' that means you like things clean. OCD is debilitating and exhausting....

At the very least, women are beginning to share and talk about the devastation and other myriad of emotions from experiencing a miscarriage(s). P.S. - You can try again is not helpful.

Yes been in a few, one quite bad. Hit from behind at full speed by a large SUV. No braking .Car written off and car in front of me also written off. Spend quite a while pretty nervous about driving