I Nathalie, its my first posting. As a depressive with a.........let's say an "unusual" childhood, and of course a T sufferer, so I can empathise with you, but of course i am not in your shoes. I am going through a divorce with an NPD. she a ridiculed me for having T. When we would argue, she would stick the knife (metaphor) in anywhere she could. Clutching her ear, walking around in circles moaning,and crying Oh my ear, oh my ear, was hilarious to her, as was her insinuating I was deaf all the time (I am not) I ended up being really ill with her from my nerves, and in and out of hospital for six months.
When you split with an NPD, you don't get better straight away, recovery could take years. Earlier this year, i became agoraphobic and never left the house for 6 months, only sneaking out at night briefly to get supplies. I never answered the door to anybody, or the phone, and my mail laid unopened for months. Utility bills, credit cards, mortgage remained unpaid so I was afraid to answer calls. Of course all this stress raised the pitch in my ear, it is the worse it has ever been.
I meditated, read a lot saw a therapist, spoke to the Samaritans to get me out of that suicidal mindset, as I knew I had a lot left to do in my life. it is your mind that is telling you all these things, not you. Depression is a selfish disease, and is intent on destroying its host and anyone else around them at any cost. I found solace in an old hobby of Photography, my 3 cats and now I am about to get a dog. Depression hates being ignored it has to be fed, so it can make the host fill its self fulfilling prophecy ( I am useless, no one wants me, Im ugly, fat etc ) I never had to tell myself these things, my wife happily did it for me, but I picked up where she left off, when she left.
What depression hates you doing is good deeds for others, its like an NPD, it's a narcissistic illness that has to feed its own ego or it dies. So at the moment your depression is having a field day, convincing you how worthless you are, and dysfunctional because of the T. Doing good for others will also help take your mind off of your T. I am not talking about being an all out altruistic saint, as i believe you should always be number one in your world, but setting aside time for a few good deeds here and there. IMHO animals appreciate and reciprocate better than humans, but maybe thats just me?
Dont give up, your young and its a big beautiful world out there, you just got to see through all the confusion and fog , and yes I still have T.
Maybe you could Skype other sufferers, that's what I do. We dont talk about T all the time we have a laugh and a giggle or we talk about our hobbies to take our mind off of things. I am open to that if you want.
Chin up girl, don't give in to it
Josef