Not looking forward to the rollercoaster

[FREEDOMATLAST]

Hi All, just a quick 'hello'. New here and new to he fact that I have/had narcissistic parents/siblings/husband and in-laws. Recognising my co-dependency/caretaker traits big style and am going through a whirlwind of emotions, no tears yet but know they are gonna come, maybe will feel better then.  So angry for the wasted years at the moment but staying positive as much as I can. I have a lot of work to do and wondering whether to ask GP for counselling, does anyone think it is a good move? Don't know if I can do it on my own 😔

[Kizzie]

Hi Freedomatlast and welcome to OOTS     Seeing a therapist is probably a good idea if you're not certain about recovering on your own.  I'd suggest you try and find one who is familiar with CPTSD so you can see if that may be what you're dealing with.  You certainly don't need a formal diagnosis to post here though, many of us have not been diagnosed but we just know we're in the right place when we read about the symptoms and what others experience. 

The anger at wasted years and what you endured is normal and valid, we all lose so much by having to cope with trauma as children.  One book a lot of us relate to is Pete Walker's "CPTSD: From Surviving to Thriving" in which he talks about angering and grieving.  If you go to the glossary at the top of this page you'll see a description of "angering" in the "A" section, and he has a web site at http://www.pete-walker.com/.

to you as you start your journey

[Jimmy]

Welcome. Good luck on your journey. I have a friend who had a narcissistic father and a mentally-ill mother and she's still dealing with the consequences. Counselling may help and is not a bad place to start even if just to get some things aired. I've had counselling and therapy over the years and found it of some use. Indeed, the latter was where I was diagnosed with C-PTSD and that was a big breakthrough. However, the biggest improvements I have managed to develop myself through writing and other forms of self-analysis. I would say it is worth finding as many tools as you can and experimenting a bit. See what works. You might want to switch between tools as they often work at some times and not others. We are all different and only we find out what works for us.

Good luck,

Jim