Lived Experience Forum

[Nay69]

I have two beautiful sons who don’t know me at all.

I went through a stage of severe depression to the point that my doctor told me that I should separate myself from my children and my former husband to concentrate on me getting better. I took his advice, packed my things and left.

I went back home to my parents who had separated and found myself floundering in another situation that I didn’t want to be in. 

Then I met my husband.

To start it was wonderful! Then I began to see little things that sparked my intuition. It has been almost 21 years and I am still learning how to deal with my husband but I am beginning to understand why he acts the way he does. Growing up with no father figure as a young man is not a good thing and his mum certainly didn’t help by dumping him off at the horses stables straight after school at 15 years of age with no notice.

There are so many things that ring alarm bells when I talk about my husband. I want to be a support for him and at the same time I wish someone would support me. Now that my dad is gone I feel that I have no one to help or guide me. 

[JoeTheLion]

Hi @Nay69

Welcome to the Forums. Thanks for sharing your story.

That is a huge load you are carrying with your family. I hope you are finding time for yourself, taking time out and looking after your self care. One of the things you can control is doing things that help you to cope and looking after yourself as best you can.

I'm sorry to read about what is happening with your husband. Please reach out for support. The following link is a service for people in your situation where a family mumber of friend has substance use issues. You can ring them anytime.

https://www.fds.org.au/

I hope that you will find the forums to be a supportive place for exploring all these issues. Just a tip, if you are replying to someone or wanting to notify or touch base with someone, place an @ before their username, as in @Nay69

All the Best

Joe The Lion

[Nay69]

Thanks for reaching out 💐

I haven’t been able to seek advice since I lost my dad 4 years ago. He was my rock.

[JoeTheLion]

So sorry to hear about your Dad @Nay69. Losing such a support is heartbreaking and the grief can last years. A good service you can touch base with is https://griefline.org.au/

It's great you have reached out on the forums and this link and the one above can guide you with professional help or just someone to talk it all through with.

All the best to you

Joe The Lion

[Nay69]

Thanks so much @JoeTheLion

[Nay69]

The forums have been a blessing to me 💐