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Getting close to the end and nowhere to turn

57 replies

OnceThereWasThisGirlWho · 07/07/2016 01:27

I've tried seeking help, again and again. I now have a long history of seeking help but getting nowhere. Seems to be a paradox where they will only help if I am actively suicidal, but obviously then I wouldn't ask for help. Confused Have been to GP within last week.

I feel like a burden, and that I musn't ask for support, and must present as others expect of me. And I feel like that because that is what I have been treated like. I don't think that's right, or at least I woudn't if it was someone else in this position, but that is the state of affairs.

GP has referred for ASD assessment at my request. But tbh it seems like he's so keen on that because he sees me as a weirdo (and clearly thinks I'm difficult). Certainly, he doesn't seem to understand or agree with anything else I say/try to explain. Seeing him or anyone about my mental health is massivey triggering for me, makes me feel so desperately alone, and this sort of feeling like I'm being suffocated and expected to smile sweetly and say "yes sir, no sir" and agree that they are right and I'm a despicable human who should know my place. I'm definitely doing something wrong by feeling all these pesky emotions and having nightmares and horrible overwhelming memories. It's my fault people have hurt me so badly. I shoud keep quiet and conform godammit! Again, I wouldn't treat someone else like this but it seems to be the accepted view of me and I'm supposed to accept that and somehow also not feel shite.

I'm scared of everybody. I can't cope with their expectations, and most relationships and friendships seem to reach a point where I feel massively scapegoated or like I just have to be what the other person wants. I've tried to work out where I'm going wrong, if it's me, but tbh I seem to keep at it trying to repair relationships (including friendships) when it's way past the point of being treated as a "lesser" human. I really treasure the few who haven't treated me in this way, but sadly do not live near any of them anymore (most are abroad - that'll teach me to encourage people to follow their dreams Wink). I've been reading up about abusive relationships because I'm trying to break the pattern in my romantic life, and it's struck me that an awful lot of it is relevant in friendships too. But I feel like that with almost everyone! If I applied red flag crietria to friendships I'd be considered even more of a bitch by other people.

It's all so confusing, I feel sick not understanding. Perhas I am this awful person others seem to think? But everything I've read supports me just being traumatised, I have had some shitty bad luck/horrible cricumstances happen to me... But... I seem to be one of those people a few people love and value whilst the majority despise without it being clear why. People seem keen to think the worst of me, even if it involes distroting the truth or making stuff up, whilst others are given the benefit of the doubt.

I have had some therapy (privately) and it improved self-worth but if anything that made things worse as less willing to put up with stuff. Also it validated my position in a way which didn't resolve the underlying questions, possibly because I have just been horribly unlucky, but I'm not sure.

Gosh that was a lot of unexpected writing. The point is, I'm utterly alone right now, and feel I'm at the end. (Not seen anyone in weeks, have no good friends nearby, or even anyone I could see really.) I'm struggling with all the bad memories and just being totally overwhelmed and feeling hopeless because I couldn't stop the horrible things happening, because people who should have helped actively worked against me, because I still don't understand the things, and because people seem to slam doors in my face rather than explain. I want to talk about the things. I wish I could do that here but just get told to "seek help".

I just don't know how to effectively ask for help because if I do I instantly sort of clam up and feeling dreadfully guilty and either a terrible attention seeker or a horrible burden, depending on who I've opened up to (MH people/GP or friends). The only person who remotely understands and is a longterm friend I could potentially speak to has a hell of a lot on their plate right now. I called and ended up not really saying how I felt, just trying to be supportive. Whih felt good because friendship does, and I love this person to bits and want to help them, but it still leaves me increasingly more desperate and alone with all the memories and feelings and confusion and hopelessness.

But yeh, I can't seem to convey things properly because I've been "trained" by the very people who should help not to show emotion and to feel guilty and attention-seeking (comments about being attention seeking, manipulative, told won't spek to you until you've "calmed down" or stopped crying, that sort of thing). Even this post has been written in a weirdly detached way; Im actually in bits. If I genuinely tell someone how I feel, I freak out and withdraw inside myself instantly. I could write on here that I'm suicidal and if one of you rushed round to my house I would be mortified and my "smile and be personable" social conditioning would automatically click in, no matter how much I desperately needed to talk about stuff. I can do it, it's just that usually the other person is sort of trying to jolly you out of it, so it feels wrong to keep dragging the conversation back to "I need to discuss this awful thing".

I feel like my background suicide risk is going up rapidly, and I don't know how to convey it. It's like the more reactive "shit, everything is too much" suicide risk was higher when living through crap. Whereas now it's more the background hopelessness that increases day by day. Does that make sense?

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DawnMumsnet · 08/07/2016 21:41

Hi Once,

We're really sorry to hear you are feeling this way.

We hope you don't mind, but when these threads are flagged up to us we usually add a link to our Mental Health resources - here. We know you've already said that you've contacted the Samaritans in the past (and that you don't feel they're what you need now) but we're adding the link just so it's all here in one place. Here's the Samaritans' website here, or you can email them on [email protected].

There are other forums listed in our Webguide which may be able to offer you more help and support. Here's a link to the Mental Health Forum and here's a link to the free support forum for the charity Sane. Please take a look.

Support from other Mumsnetters is great and we really hope you will be able to take some comfort from your fellow posters, but as other MNers will tell you, it's really important to keep on trying to find real life help and support as well.

We really hope you're okay. Flowers

OnceThereWasThisGirlWho · 08/07/2016 23:35

right. what do you do if a&e doesnt work out and feelwors than ever?
i cant deal with all the pain i can see the all laughing at me in my head and the horrible maipulative people who others think are nice because they are nice to them but horrible when no-ones looking. evil bitch just been described on fb as lovely by someone else, this horrible cow cut me off rom the one friend i could talk to, shes horible, why someone think shes lovely? how could she show up and chuck me out the group and they like her even though they hear her being a cow to her partner?

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OnceThereWasThisGirlWho · 08/07/2016 23:38

i cant bear it, peole like that will always target me, i cant stop them, im so frightened, im not safe, they will always get me and be nice to othes so they dont get told to fuck off and i the one eft out instaed
im not worth the same as others

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CobbledTogether · 09/07/2016 11:18

Going to A&E is about keeping you safe. If you can't access help that way then at least you've been able to get through another evening without harming yourself. No one on MN can stop you from harming yourself, which is why, as I said before, the only advice we can give is to go there, or distract yourself if you can.

Your question about why people think this woman is lovely when she's been mean to you is just the way of the world. There are people out there who think I'm great, others think I'm a twat. It's the same with anyone, her and you.

OnceThereWasThisGirlWho · 09/07/2016 17:06

The thing with A&E is it just ends up so overwhelming just being there waiting that I feel worse or cant bear it and leave (although then they may get police to keep me there). The street triage thing is so much better in that respect.

Being able to communicate with people who actually take in what I'm saying and/or understand, and/or have experience is actually really helpful. That's why I posted. It helped.

I'm a bit confused about the "some people think I'm a twat" thing. I mean, they must have reasons for it..? Even if it's something others wouldn't agree was twattish behaviour (eg. a difference in opinion over Brexit). The confusion arises (for me) because people seem to be judged by differen criteria. So eg. person A will be accepted despite xyz, or xyz will even be justified by others. Person B will be slated and disliked for xyz (NB: I'm not just talking about situations involving me, but various situations I have observed with curiosity). Some people seem to always been empathised with and given the benefit of the doubt, despite despiable behaviour, whilst others are viewed with scepticism and suspicion and unpleasant rumour or hearsay is always believed.

It's all very odd. It's as if people decide randomly who they like and dislike and then absorb anything that appears to support their view whilst supressing anything that contradicts it (to the point of serious cognitive dissonance!) But even this doesn't fully make sense - the woman I mentioned wasn't much liked when she was clearly treating her partner like shit in front of us (although initially we had wanted to like her as she appeared to make him happy), so I don't know what she did to get moved into the "like this person and disregard evidence to the contrary" catergory. Hmm.

Anyway, I came back to this thread to report I have now spoken to a nice MH nurse who did actually listen and appear to understand where I was coming from and didnt make me feel like a despicable human being. That helped a lot.

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CobbledTogether · 09/07/2016 18:33

I'm glad you got to speak to a MH nurse and that it's made you feel better. You certainly sound more together and past last night's crisis.

As for the rest, I don't know all the details of the woman you're talking about, but someone doing one thing you don't like doesn't mean that they are automatically a bad person as no one is 100% good or bad. Maybe she was forgiven for how she was with her husband because at other times she has been a good friend.

Everyone has good and bad points. I have a friend who likes to gossip, which I don't like much. They're still my friend though as she has been very supportive of a lot of people in other circumstances, has some similar interests to me and has a cracking sense of humour, and many other likeable attributes.

I've met other people who like to gossip, but because they've not got some of the other attributes of my friend, I've not seen any value in continuing a friendship with them.

People are complex. I've done some twattish things. Some people still like me as they can see that I am not wholly twattish and my non-twattish attributes make up for it. Other people think I'm a twat. I'm wholeheartedly fine with that as not everyone likes everyone else. My friends have friends I can't stand. That's just how the world turns.

OnceThereWasThisGirlWho · 10/07/2016 05:48

But her twattish behaviour includes controlling who her partner is allowed to see, verbally and occasionally (in front of others it's occasional anyway) physically abusing him. She went all huffy with him and stopped speaking to him the day one of his parents got a terminal diagnosis. He was so deflated and broken, it was awful. At least one person (not me!) has taken him aside and said this is not ok.

And she was a bitch to me on my birthday, I had to smile politely and pretend I didn't care or she'd have wrecked the night. I guess she must be pretty manipulative, the way she has clearly somehow cosied up to some women in the group and managed to shut others out (not just me).

I am now just trying to meet some nice normal people who aren't horribly manipulative or the types to mindlessly follow the manipulation, I hope there's plenty out there [unsure emoticon].

Although, to go off on a slight tangent, I do wonder about a sexist element in all this. Occurred to me today. Was reading some interesting stuff about how people respond to men and women differently. I reckon some of what I've experienced may be due to being in friendship groups where women are a definite minority.

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