QOTW 2010/5 follow up

[Guest guest]

I feel the need to explain my " too much information " post from last night.

Although I may have answered the Question of the Week in too much detail of my

darkest hour, I felt the need to give full disclosure. The few times that I had

let someone know that I was possibly suicidal, I was met with dismissive or

patronizing responses. " You shouldn't think like that " ... " It's not that

bad " ...and so on. I wanted to tell the ugly truth, in case there might be

someone out there that was in the same dark place. Just to let them know, no

matter how dark it might be, there is hope. There's that little/big word

again... " hope " . I never realized how important it is to have a support system,

until I didn't have one. Without a support system, I lost hope. So once again,

" Thank you " to all of you who on occasion have spilled their guts too. Hearing

other people open up, made me realized that depression is a common occurance

with flatback. Knowing it was not uncommon, made it less powerful too.

.........................Kathy

[Guest guest]

Kathy,

It takes a lot of guts to come out and say what you did. Shame on whoever in

your past brushed you off with " It's not that bad " , etc. That's a horribly

insensitive response to give someone who is possibly suicidal and trying to

reach out! Yikes. I'm glad that your pets have helped you and that they

continue to do so. Have you had the opportunity to talk to a counselor who

deals with people who have chronic or progressive conditions? That can be

helpful sometimes just to have someone with a sympathetic ear who can offer

other perspectives and ideas on how to cope.

>

> I feel the need to explain my " too much information " post from last night.

Although I may have answered the Question of the Week in too much detail of my

darkest hour, I felt the need to give full disclosure. The few times that I had

let someone know that I was possibly suicidal, I was met with dismissive or

patronizing responses. " You shouldn't think like that " ... " It's not that

bad " ...and so on. I wanted to tell the ugly truth, in case there might be

someone out there that was in the same dark place. Just to let them know, no

matter how dark it might be, there is hope. There's that little/big word

again... " hope " . I never realized how important it is to have a support system,

until I didn't have one. Without a support system, I lost hope. So once again,

" Thank you " to all of you who on occasion have spilled their guts too. Hearing

other people open up, made me realized that depression is a common occurance

with flatback. Knowing it was not uncommon, made it less powerful too.

>

> ........................Kathy

>