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9 comments
  • I suggest therapy instead of asking random people on social media. This sounds way too important to leave to Lemmy comments.

    • While yes, there are barriers to access for a lot of people there. Support groups - exchanging insight with people who have been in similar situations - tend to be pretty effective, and Lemmy is just acting as an online front for that.

      I'd take anonymous internet comments with a grain of salt, but with that healthy skepticism in mind there's plenty of potential for healing even in this environment.

  • I don't know what your experience was like, I want to make it clear that how I handled my stuff def wouldn't work for everyone.

    For me, I found that it was hard to find a healthy relationship because I was attracted to and attracted abusers. It took me going open poly and having a lot of casual, relaxed, and actually intimate encounters with people to over-ride my insecurity and lack of self-worth. I was in an open poly relationship with two wonderful people for about 4 years, and had casual fleeting relationships with people throughout.

    I learned how to set boundaries. I learned the language I needed to express those boundaries. I learned how to communicate my needs, and how to process experiences in a healthy way. I learned that there are no perfect people; that everyone has damage.

    I also started doing "the work" by Dr. Robert Gibson. Its a series of 48 tapes that guide you through a process of introspection, so that you can face the hard stuff and move forward. It can be scary to look inward, and a lot of people avoid doing so and throw themselves into distractions. I did that for years, and I still struggle with it sometimes. If you look for the tapes, I warn you that they are framed in a pseudo-spiritual fashion, if that happens to be triggering.

    At some point, I got to a place where I could identify what I wanted in a relationship. What I needed, even. I went out and found it, and am now engaged another four years later.

    I genuinely hope you find a way through that works for you. Big hugs <3

  • Make friends with and live with people who aren't living the indoctrination setting you were brought up in.

    Even then, I'll probably be deprogramming from some stupid shit I was taught all the way till death.

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