Tag: ptsd

Happiness, where are you?

~ heavysideoflife ~ Leave a comment

Doing stuff on a regular basis is not my biggest strength. If I have to do something, there is a good chance that I will jeopardize it. It’s the sentence “you have to”. The little kid in me(or not so little) scream in my head something like “Fuck you, I don’t have to at all” quite frequently.

I believe it’s the result of not being able to do much of the things that I wanted to do when I was growing up. All the choices that I had to make were in consideration of others’ feelings, needs, requests, and expectations.

It’s like being programmed to do whatever is expected from you instead of doing what you actually want to do(and even that often does not work at all).

It’s been a hell of a journey so far. Next month I finally have an appointment in the obesity clinic. They will try to help me lose weight since even though I know I have an eating disorder, and for some time I was able to manage my binge eating, things are not going so well. There are those huge amounts of sadness, frustration, and anger in me that I have trouble containing(?), keep in check(?)…not really sure what is the best way to put it.
Bingin feels sometimes like an out-of-body experience. I’m physically there, but mentally faaaar faaaaaaar away. I hate it and it scares me.

Like if life was not difficult enough. Why does it always have to be fighting?
Fighting to get better, stronger, slimmer, smarter, more beautiful, and all this without letting yourself get weak & tired. While keeping everything in check, maintain a “healthy adult life”, go to work, raise your kids, take care of your house and your family and friends.

I don’t think it is possible to be perfect doing all those things, and I struggle with that very much, because if I fail at something- they will know. I don’t even know who “they “are exactly. But it will be out there- I’m not perfect and people will know. I hope “they” will not care.
Because really, everybody is busy with their own shit, and I guess everyone struggles in one way or another. If you don’t however struggle and your life is perfect- I’m happy for you, please do not rub it in. Let me struggle in peace, let me be myself. Let me work this shit out on my terms.

Happines, I’m on to you.

 logic is not always logical

~ heavysideoflife ~ Leave a comment

It’s been a while, I know. Felt like writing something down, for my own sake.

My therapy for eating disorder is officially over since August, and I was advised that I’m all good and all I need to do now is lose weight. The solution to this  would be the obesity clinic. 

I was supposed to build a support network, so in case I will be at the edge of relapsing, I would have someone to go to. This is still, to this day, very confusing for me. 

Let me explain- I was successfully hiding my binge eating from everybody. Well not sure if successfully is the right word to describe it , but yeah, I am obese, that’s what people could see for sure, but the overeating part was not visible. So after the treatment is expected from me to not hide it, and let my support network know that I have a problem and I need help/ support

Easy peas, when you were hiding this for more then 30 years. ..

Also, I am the only person with an eating disorder that I know, so how on earth do people who have no idea how it feels understand what is going on in my head? Every relapse is not something that I feel like bragging about, obviously….

I relapsed a few times already. I’m happy with my job,but my private life is in rough shape if I may say nicely. I’m having a hard time dealing with it. I know I should be able to make better choices by now, but If I’m completely hopeless I do not think straight anymore.

Logical solutions are not so logical. 

I will make an appointment with the Obesity clinic tomorrow and then will go from there.

One is clear for me, this shit never really goes away, and it sucks. It sucks so very much.

Me & my demons.

~ heavysideoflife ~ Leave a comment

I’m extremely  busy nowadays.

I’m in my second week of a new job.

Also, I’m going to finish treatment for my eating disorder very soon.

It’s because I am magically cured after almost 1,5 years of treatment.

Or am I ?

I can tell you know with full honesty that I am not cured. I don’t believe that you can be cured from that. It is a danger that I will always have to be very aware of. It is after all addiction, although I know many do not like to call it that way.

When I struggled with my postpartum depression ,I got a one year treatment. My insurance company strongly believed that after 12 months, therapy does magic and simply fixes everything. Well it doesn’t , but if you can pay 100 Euro, per hour they can fix me a little bit more.

But then it’s your responsibility. If you still need treatment after 12 months it means you didn’t do your best perhaps you didn’t try hard enough. So the last meeting payed by my insurance company looked like a joke. In about 45 minutes ,like in a Disney movie I was made to believe that everything that could be done, was done. And if I was not cured ,then oh well…I could pay some more to get better this time. Maybe I didn’t try hard enough in the past year?

And I stil there like an alien, back to square one. Full of doubts and even more questions .

Because we, depressed people are so good with that ! We can handle all setbacks so well. And we just love the self doubt  !  ….Not.

So this happened to me  7 years ago.4 years later I ended up heavily depressed ,burned out, with diagnosed Ptsd and an eating disorder.

Since then I came a long way. I have truly and literally faced my demons .

We are not friends yet, most likely we will never be .But we are learning to understand each other. We are ,after all  on my side.

So yea,since this treatment is going to end soon, we ,and if it was not clear enough yet- WE=my demons and me  – are a little bit worried. Full of hope. But fuck,we are worried. 

We did learn a few things in the meantime . We have no filter. We look forward to what is coming next. We are fragile. We are very sensitive, we don’t know it all, but we are still here, working and fighting to get better, and we are not giving up, I can, Dear Reader, promise you that.

Stress

~ heavysideoflife ~ Leave a comment

It has been a while. 

I had few attempts to sit and write something ,but didn’t really feel like it.

Currently I’m not happy with how things are going.I haven’t stood on the scale in a while and scared like hell to do it .

Treatment for my eating disorder is about to finish soon,and I feel like I’m a little bit lost.

A lot of things are changing .I don’t like changes . I’m not a fan.

Here what is going on.

Haven’t seen my therapist live for a few meetings now,which was due to my sickness or because I had to wait for test results for Covid-19 . Talking online is not the same. It feels more responsible for my bad decision when I can be held accountable ,when actually present .

I have days when I feel that I am not strong enough to pull it through. I know I am not losing enough weight,and that makes me very upset.There was this period of time,where I ate like a pro. I felt quite good about myself,until I realised that things are going wrong .I was drinking beer/cider. One can per day (or sometimes 2-3) everyday for a little bit longer than a week. I don’t even recall drinking it all,until I notice how many cans have gone from the fridge. I knew what was happening. I was searching for a bubble replacement. 

You know,that safe bubble that I was able to escape to when I was binging .

It’s such a danger to come from one addition to another.My traumatized ass can be in readly dark place at times,and it’s hard then to not to lock yourself in that dramatic spiral. 

Haven’t drunk anything  in a while now. Don’t feel like it.The bubble ,that was my comfort once,now scares the shit out of me. It’s a constant  reminder that something is wrong with me.That no matter what happens,this sick part of me will always be there,maybe sleeping,inactive but still there. This though ,with the fact that treatment will be finishing soon brings me a lot of stress. I know ,there is a possibility to continue the therapy someplace else ,but reliving everything that happened to me is not fun.

To not be all negative I have some things to look forward too. Possibly a new job,which means the end of a very long and nerve jangled period in my life ,where my binge eating ,depression and PTSD grew more in power and gained +40 kg . Where the stress levels were so high, that I was able to dissociate myself from the  surroundings,also while occasionally  driving a car on my way back home.End of a period when I strongly believed, that I was not good enough,that I need to change my whole personality,because I do not fit in.A period ,when I was convinced that this is it-there is nothing better out there for me.Period of time when I didn’t want to be alive anymore.

 I wish I was able to realize earlier that a job is not something that defines who I am as a person.That health is more important than numbers.That I matter .How I feel matters. 

Walking away feels good.Feels right,especially that I’m not going away alone.This place took a lot from me,but gave me a chance to meet some wonderful people that I can now  call my Friends. 

See,told you,I’m not all negative!

(Now let me try to believe in that)

Stupid

~ heavysideoflife ~ Leave a comment

I binged yesterday.

I hide the food that  I ate from everyone.

I put the candy papers in the bin, and then covered them with other stuff. Then I put some food to my bag. You know ,like the old times, and took it with me upstairs, to watch some TV on my laptop. Then I hid the food under the pillow, so my husband couldn’t see it, in case he would come to check on me. Then when everyone went to bed, I ate some more. I covered some things in the toilet paper and then threw them in our bin in the toilet. You can’t tell that it’s food .Nobody will ever find out. The rest I decided to throw away outside the house. I knew I had to do some shopping next day, so with this came another possibility to hide stuff.

I didn’t think straight. I was at my lowest. 

I was forced to make some kind of test that would check how smart I am for my job interview.

The results were not good. There it was ,almost on paper, screaming to me – “YOU ARE STUPID”. 

I hate those tests. I want to believe that it doesn’t define who I am, but It feels like I am not strong enough to do that.

Since I’m fat & ugly (and no, I’m not looking for pity by saying this, just admitting the facts ) ,I was hoping that maybe I do have some brains instead. 

And then when I started to binge, I got my confirmation. “You are not only ugly and fat,you are indeed also stupid.I mean look at yourself now.Look what you are doing to yourself!!!That can only be descirbe as stupid.You are such  a looser.How are you still alive?!” –  I kept telling myself over and over again. I cried a lot in silence. At home,only my dog knew that something was wrong ,and didn’t want to leave my side. 

Today I didn’t binge.

I shared my worries with a friend .

“I’m still alive,I’m still here”

While I had my PTSD treatment , we were told to say out loud ,what is the one thing about us,that we are the most proud of. I couldn’t think of anything.

When it was my turn to speak ,I said without any hesitation “The thing ,that I’m most proud about myself is that I never give up.”

Yesterday was a setback. Today is a new day, and I refuse to give up.

Trauma

~ heavysideoflife ~ Leave a comment

My dad called me two times yesterday, not in the best of times, to be very honest. I didn’t pick up ,and also didn’t call back. If it’s something urgent-especially for him ,he would try to text me too, or send something via messenger . Anyway. I went to bed, and had one nightmare after another, first about how bad of a person I am in his mind ,,and then the second one, which happened to be the worst. I dreamed that my dad was hitting me again. I was telling him not to do that anymore, as I’m a grown up now. I beg him to stop, and after some time he did stop. Then I told him that, If he ever hit me again, it would be the last time we see each other(I know it was just a dream ,but I also know how it would devastate him ,if I will cut all my contacts with him) .I was so proud of myself in that dream, because I stood up for myself. Not for long ,as he ended up hitting me again just to prove that he have power over me.

Dream was so intense, that I woke up and got a panic attack .Not as bad as they used to be. I knew it was just a dream and that  it was all not real . I have used some tricks that I have learned during my treatment for PTSD  to make myself calm, to ground myself, as I call it, and it worked. This took me a while though. Didn’t have a panic attack for quite a while now, but I guess with all the stress nowadays, it’s easier to find yourself in that horrible state again.

I’m not a role model daughter, but I try my best. My dad is pretending to be “good” now and seems to forget about the pain that he caused me and my brothers. He doesn’t want to admit that it was not only my mom , who beat the crap out of us. I’m already ok with the idea that he will never openly admit to it, or even apologies. I even caught him lying in front of my friends, saying that he never hit any of us, just made us exercise. Well just my brother. We don’t speak about what happened to me . Last time I tried to have a talk about the abuse, he said to me ,to not say anything since we might both hear the things that we don’t like, suggesting a bit ,that maybe he was not always a perfect dad indeed, but I wasn’t the best daughter either. 

So you see, there is no point starting the conversation. It’s not like things will get better after I will hear him admitting to anything. Nothing can change what happened, the damage has been done. I’m moving on, but it’s painful to see that he isn’t. With time ,I got to understand that he was a product of an abnormal family structure and toxic environment. I know his life was not easy, but since I could choose differently, why couldn’t he  ? 

Yes ,I know that I will never get an answer to this question. I’m fine with that. 

I just wish to not feel so guilty ,that I didn’t pick up the phone, or didn’t contact him often enough. I was raised to believe that parents do not make mistakes, that it is a sin, to not cherish your mom and dad above everything ,because they give me life (with the help of “God”, since we were Catholics )

But you know what,they were not only mom & dad.

They were also my abusers. 

So dear guilty feeling – I say to you bye bye.

War

~ heavysideoflife ~ Leave a comment

Writing this is not easy. I’m a mom myself,and just thought that there will come a day when my child will blame me for all her issues or unhappiness scares the shit out of me. I’m sure that at some point she will realize how fucked up her mom actually can be.I hope that she will still like to have me around and tell me stuff.That she will not be cringing every mothers day ,like I do ,because I can stand people bragging how great they moms are/or were.

The same thing applies to dads. Equaly. 

I have no clue how to be  a good mom. I don’t even know how to be an “ok” mom. 

The only thing I do know for sure,that I will do my best to give my daughter  all that I didn’t have when I was young. Especially now,when I know for the fact that when I was her age my issue with food was already a long time out there. And nope,we don’t talk about material stuff. 

I want her to feel that she is loved ,just the way she is. That she is enough & worthy all the good stuff.

I keep on noticing more and more, how much my issues with food are connected with the way I was raised and it really breaks my heart. Yesterday was one of those days when I was thinking about not disappointing my dad,because he wanted me to do something for him.

I didn’t do what he asked.It was not a big deal but he could easily do it himself and he most definitely didn’t need my help.He lied to someone and I was supposed to get an info for him,since he was “not in the country at the moment” .

He keeps complaining that my siblings never call him anymore,but at the same time every time he is calling them,he wants something,or he keeps on complaining how messy his life is and how he hopes that everything will fall in the right place eventually . Calls with me are no different. When I’m about to hang up,I usually get to hear what was the real purpose of the call. He keeps on calling me now ,as I am writing this ,because he probably wants to know how the things went yesterday. Since I didn’t pick up ,he would try facetime ,or maybe email me, or use  social media to contact me and check if I did what he had asked. 

He will spend all that time trying to contact me,while he could easily make a call himself to and find out everything.

This situation makes my whole body so uncomfortable. Stress levels are very high. The need to eat something is very present ,and it’s damn strong. I want it to stop.I hate to feel this way. I hate how small I feel when he does that, even though he is thousands kilometers away .

If I call him back,he will win. So I’m not going to do it,at least not now. Maybe later,because the guilt I feel inside will not let me get on with my life.

This is ridiculous. 

It’s a war between me and me to not binge right  now and I deserve to win .

Angry

~ heavysideoflife ~ Leave a comment

I’m very very angry .On a scale from 1 to 10  I would give it a solid 12 . You will understand why after reading this post.

Growing up being me was not very pretty .It was wrong from the start. First – I was supposed to be a boy. Years ego ,you couldn’t check the sex of the baby. Yet my dad was convinced that I am a boy . I was told he was really surprised when it turned out that I’m a tiny little girl .

What a disappointment! 

Three years after I was born,my dad finally got his boy. My brother was born not breathing, they were fighting for his life for a few hours ,and by some miracle -or maybe the correct way to say it- thanks to the skills of the doctors  and nurses he was safed .

Everything changed .You could say that I was spoiled since as  a 3 years old I dared to complain that I’m not getting attention. And yes,I did complain a lot ,because I was talking a lot since I was very young , and as I was often reminded-my mouth just didn’t shut .

I was also told that there is no way I can remember what I was told at 3 years of age. Well I did remember. I still do.

After all, my  first memory is from when I was about 1 years old and I was given a bone from chicken leg to nibble(for my own sake I will not get into the exploring the chicken matter ).

But let’s get to the point (I promise there is one).

I remember people coming to visit my newly born brother. I was very social as a child,I was happy when we had people around,and It was in my very nature to greet everybody right at the door. There is nothing strange with that. 

However ,I remember like it was yesterday ,what they were telling me after my brother was born :

“oh we are not here for you,we came to see your brother”

“oh nooo,these toys are not for you,you didn’t deserve it,It’s for your brother who by miracle is now alive”

One aunt even told me ” oh my dear ,you don’t matter now ,your brother is more important “

I remember sitting in the corner by myself ,while everybody was just so excited about my him. I mean- he was a miracle  and a boy!! How lucky my parents were.

It all went downhill from there. I remember being super confused, not knowing what to do ,to get some attention. Of course at that time I didn’t understand it that way . It was all about my brother and I didn’t matter anymore . When I did something wrong – or as I would prefer to call it today -when I did something that every kid did when they were young- I was bitten up. With a hand , belt ,shoe, carpet beater ,poker (yes,the metal one ,that you use for your chimney).

My brother was spared at first,because you know- he was a miracle. He got his portion of beating when he was a bit older.

After some time ,I’ve had enough . I felt better everywhere else but home . 

I decided one day that I will run away to my uncle. He didn’t live very far . My cousins were always so nice to me ,they didn’t  hurt me , they would listen to me.

Moreover ,they were always happy to see me . Always.

Off I went.

Of course after some time – my parents found out where I was . I didn’t want to go back with them ,I was crying ,they promised me that we would talk it all over at home .

It was a warm summer evening ,and I remember that day like it was yesterday.

As soon as we entered the house ,I was told to put my pants down, and lay down on the little wooden chair ,so I could get my ass smashed with my fathers belt. 

We didn’t talk anything thru. It was a punishment time for me . My mother looked away,mentioning only that  I am a shame for them because of what I did adding “what the neighbours will think about us now.”When they finally realized that I was missing earlier that day , all the neighbourhood was alarmed . So naturally, the most important thing once I was at home was what the neighbourhood would think about my parents .

Priorities.

Eventually ,they managed to pull my pants down,force me on that stuppid little chair and beat me up until I was not able to cry anymore. Then when they were done,I was told to apologize for what I have done and swear that I will never ever run away again . I was 5 .

I did what I  was told. Until it was time for me to run away again. But next time I did it smarter (little did I know) . My dad was not at home ,and my mothers friend came by. They were busy with each other ,my brother was in his little bed and I was told that I can go outside and play in the front of the house. 

This was my chance ,I thought. My mom’s friend was at home,so even if I run away and they find me,there is no way I will get beaten in front of other people. 

My dad came back home early that day.

By now you probably know where I am going with this,so let me spare you the details. Dejavu. But this time ,with viewers. Well actually no viewers,listeners .

 My mom was sitting with her friend in the living room and I was asked to go to the kitchen,the doors closed and then the same thing happened all over again.

After it was all over,I was told to behave like nothing happened and also maybe to ” not cry so much ,because I had nothing to cry about”.

Crying is not allowed , even when you were punished after doing something wrong. Since I did something wrong – I was supposed to shut my mouth ,and prove that I will do better next time .

This was a breaking point for me. I realized that adults are not to be trusted ,and most of all ,they will not protect me.  This running away gig had to stop .It wasn’t working.

I was desperately in need for a friend . The kind of a friend that would hug me, that would listen to me,play with me and cheer me up,the one that understands and not judge,the one that I can always run away to without actually leaving the house.

That’s when the eating started. First innocent. There was this  powder milk in a blue bag,that you had to put with some water.It was for my brother. The powder itself tasted very nice. I can still remember it’s taste .I knew where they were putting it ,so I ate it ,when they were sleeping ,or watching a movie ,or simply  when they just  went away.Then came other stuff.I always made sure that nobody can see what I’m doing,what I’m eating or how much.

The beating didn’t stop of course as there was always a good reason to punish me.But I didn’t run away anymore. I stayed at home. I thought this is how things should be. I didn’t know any different.I was never alone anymore,my friend “Food” was with me all the time.

I spoke to my dad yesterday. It was not a nice conversation . He made me feel like little me again.My blood pressure went high,and in the end I tried to turn it all into the joke,but this pain and anger inside me was just too strong.

I was checking what kind of food I can order . Since it was quite late (lucky for me), choice was really limited. After searching for perfect food  for too long I just gave up.

That’s why I’m angry. I woke up today, feeling really uneasy. Dad was calling again,but I was not able to pick up the phone.  It made me physically ill .The feeling of misery was so present, and the will to binge was getting stronger and stronger.

For too long I was made to believe that I do not matter . That how I felt ,didn’t matter. With this in mind  it was always easier to turn to that one friend. The one that always took me to a blissful state of safe , calm ,where nothing else really mattered . Just me and my friend “”food”. 

Today my friend “food” was left all alone.

I have opened my laptop and started to write this post.

I didn’t binge today.  

You are not alone

~ heavysideoflife ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday was a rough day.
I gave my husband a chance to read my blog.
To make it very clear. I didn’t make it to be perfect .I am not perfect nor I ever will be.
The only feedback I’ve got is that I’ve made some spelling mistakes.

English is not my native language. I learn it from songs that I was listening to on the radio when I was a kid .
I decided to write this blog in English for several reasons. Mainly ,because I hope that maybe someday ,there will be a girl or a boy out there, with eating disorder or depression, that would be able to relate to the things that I write about. And maybe, just maybe they will feel like they are not alone ,that they can relate to someone .

My meeting with Dietician was very much needed. I was trying to make it an online meeting ,as I didn’t feel like seeing other people . I’m happy that she made me come to her. I was very upset after the whole day of not having a normal conversation with my husband .I felt like a complete looser. I made mistakes ,therefore I’m a looser . That’s what overthinking does to you . That + very low self esteem . It’s so easy to bring someone down specially if they doubt themselves almost every step they make .

Ok. That was yesterday.

I don’t want to feel sorry for myself .I make changes in my life every day . Maybe they do not sound big enough for you , but they are huge for me. So maybe , just maybe I’m not a looser after all.

Hungry

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I was always told that I have no idea what real hunger means.

As a kid ,I was often forced to eat things, and I was surrounded with so much guilt because of it.

“You should be glad that you have food on your table “

“There are so many hungry kids in Africa and you are going to complain to me , that you don’t like the food or what is even worst, you ain’t going to empty the plate ??!?!?!?!?”

Followed with :

“You are ungrateful “

” You don’t love me “

“You are spoiled “

“You are horrible “

“It’s an insult for me, that you didn’t make your plate empty “

Most of the people who cooked when I was young were convinced that they are the best cooks ever. They were not bothered by cooking, and in their mind , I should be grateful that we have food at all ,since not everybody is so fortunate. This was their mantra.

My mom didn’t cook well at all. It was always the same food. She was never bothered. There was no real order in the kitchen. For example ,breakfast was only there on Sundays ,since my dad was not working on that day . The rest of the days were without breakfast. We did have sandwiches made for school, but it was more so others will not think , that my mother doesn’t take a good care for us.

My dad was into everything meat . Not the best example either ,but I must say It did change after he suffered from heart attack.

I often ate at my grandma’s. Mother of my mother. She was absolutely the worst.

She was making food that I didn’t always like. One time ,she made a soup ,that was simply horrible ,and I ended up vomiting it back on the plate. She forced me then to eat what I had vomited. I will never forget this and how it made me feel. She was so offended. I was staying at her house for about a week at that time, and she didn’t speak to me for several days. I was 5. In the end I was forced to apologize to her ,so she would speak to me again.

After all ,how did I dare not like her cooking???!!!

Since then I strongly believed that if it will ever happen next time, also with others – I can expect the same treatment .

Then came body shaming , food shaming ,bullying & even more confusion.

“Do you realized how many calories this has ??! ”

“Are you sure you are going to eat this ? “

“Why aren’t you as skinny as your cousin ?”

“Nobody will ever love you if you going to be fat “

The point was at that time -I was not fat. I was a not super skinny , but I was not as fat as I was made to believe. I was constantly compared with my cousin . Her body was nothing like mine . But this didn’t matter .The numbers matter . We were the same age ,so it was easy to say what our perfect weight should be . I always had kilo or two more than her ,and therefore -I was fat. Period.

I was about 5/6 years old then .That is also when my binge eating started.

The title of this post is “Hungry” Why ?

Because I’m very uncomfortable with this word. I’m hungry now , and just about to get some lunch. I decided to write something here to not feel so guilty about feeling this way.

My mind keeps on telling me stuff like -they will see you eating again ,they will judge you etc etc . So actually this post should help me to just pull myself together and eat my lunch like a normal human being without feeling bad about it. If I skip this meal ,I will binge later and I really don’t want that.