Marcy came in looking like a question mark. Despite her gorgeous face and swank, she still looked uncertain.
Marcy was born into chaos. Get this. Her father who spent her whole childhood using drugs, alcohol and strange women, who was emotionally and mentally absent most of her life, who is possibly still using, is the one person in the whole world Marcy calls her confidante. “He gets me. I can really talk to him. Even my husband doesn’t understand me like he does, you know, emotions.”
Marcy, despite years of fear, panic attacks, the survivor of abuse and neglect was clinging to her dad.
Marcy was lost in the headlights of the oncoming life. She thought after having spent her entire life afraid, it was time to heal so she though she’d give medication therapy “a try.”
After initiating medications for Marcy’s post-traumatic stress disorder and after her panic-attacks stopped, Marcy started attending NAMI. What a believer in NAMI she became!
They just make it easy for me to talk about myself, say things I can’t even tell my husband, and they know what I’m going through.
Listening to her talk about them was letting fresh air into our room. Hope floated in. Now Marci doesn’t believe that her dad is the only one in the world she can connect with at this level. Now Marci does not feel as alone. Why? Because she went and got connected. She whacked through the briar hedge of misperceptions, biases and insecurities between her and others.
Marci still thinks largely of her father, but he’s not the only one. He has some competition to the throne which means, Marci has a better chance of being influenced by someone healthier. Rather than attack Marci’s attachment with her Father, NAMI is giving her more to fill her heart with.
Self-Care Tip #285 – Find safety in healthy connections with others.
Questions: When have the connections in your life saved you from warped views? How do you think we could do better with this? Please tell me your story.
Related articles
- Presence Encourages Self-Care (friendtoyourself.com)
- Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment (matthewzavoras.wordpress.com)
- Networking for the greater good (jmubethechange.wordpress.com)
- How To Escape The Prison Of Agoraphobia (positivespinblog.com)