Some positivity regardin who you are and who you should be

So I am still reasonably new here but I've already grown to love the site. As several of you know I am a therapist. I like to try and go over the support area when I have the time but the reality of the situation is that without being close to the person or seeing them in my office there isn't much I can do except relay general advice and offer support and that's ok. So I figure I would use the forum to tell a story in the hopes that it reaches people. I am no sage, I am not wise and I sure as hell don't know what you are all feeling. The truth is therapists try their best to empathize but unless we are in the client's mind we won't know what he or she is feeling and thinking or suffering exactly. So here is my story and afterwards I have some words that I hope help.

MOD NOTE: I didn't know if this should go in support or not

What only a few here know about me is something I discussed in chat just yesterday. My name is Foxface, I am a sufferer of Cyclothymia, Generalized Anxiety Disorder and I am an addict. I grew up holding everything in. I suffered severe suicidal ideation as young man. When that ended I fell into deep anxiety and constant fear to the point I wouldn’t leave my house. Then one day I came out of my shell. Make no mistake, I still have a lot of anxiety and my moods do swap, especially if I forget to take my medication. That’s right, I do take medication for mood and anxiety control. I joined the Air Force at 22 and entered into a field I would later regret. I built weapons that can destroy cities and vaporize humans in a flash of 10 million degrees. I went to therapy to relieve myself of my shame. During my time in the Air Force I was injured and was treated by being ignored and force fed pills. Make no mistake I am not a victim. I am an addict because I allowed myself to swim in euphoria. At my worst I was taking ten Vicodin at a time mixed with Valium.

I am not proud of it. I am not posting this to brag. I am not trying to claim I have the sole weight of being the only person with issues. Not at all. What I am trying to say is this.

We all have our crosses to bear and our burdens. For some like me it’s mental and emotional issues. For some it is addiction. For others still it is emotional neglect. And for others it was a life of abuse or bullying or neglect.

My message to all of us is that we are not abnormal, not crazy, not ‘insane,’ not broken and we are not a diagnosis to be muttered about at social functions. We are all unique and have met challenges. But we can overcome. Some of us will overcome through friendship or therapy or perhaps even on our own but I have always refused to believe that some people just cannot be helped. We are who we are. We are beautiful creatures even if some days we are sunk in black.

I just wanted to post this to know you aren’t alone and you are surrounded here at EC and probably outside by people who can at the very least lend an ear and at best help offer a hand to walk next to us as we creep out from the dark times in our lives.
Take your time, breathe and just remember there is someone somewhere for you to join your path

And if you should falter a step and can’t see someone in the horizon to hold on to, I will be happy to lend a hand and I am damn sure a lot of people here at EC feel the same

We care…

Foxface