LovebirdsFlying
My husband drew this cartoon of me.
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Does anybody besides me find that, because you have a depressive disorder, people assume all of your negative reactions and emotions come from that, and nothing legitimate?
It's like I never have reason to feel even the slightest bit annoyed. If I do, I get shut down, talked over, not allowed to get a word in. Instead of taking the time to listen to why I feel that way, I'm told all the reasons why I shouldn't feel that way, and why I'm wrong. This, of course, makes me want to defend my emotions. All my husband (the primary perpetrator here) sees is that I'm escalating, at which point he will ask me if I need to call my doctor. Because all emotions are crazy, you know.
He's not abusing me. He just doesn't understand. It's difficult to educate him, but once he learns, he learns. When it does sink in that he's hurting me, he will stop. That's the difference between him and an abuser.
So any time I'm starting to show an emotion, he honestly can't see the difference between that and building up to a mental health crisis. He wants to head off the crisis before it gets there, so he shuts me down and won't let me vent--which, if he doesn't stop it, is going to CREATE the crisis he's trying to avoid. Ever see a pressure cooker explode?
It's like I never have reason to feel even the slightest bit annoyed. If I do, I get shut down, talked over, not allowed to get a word in. Instead of taking the time to listen to why I feel that way, I'm told all the reasons why I shouldn't feel that way, and why I'm wrong. This, of course, makes me want to defend my emotions. All my husband (the primary perpetrator here) sees is that I'm escalating, at which point he will ask me if I need to call my doctor. Because all emotions are crazy, you know.
He's not abusing me. He just doesn't understand. It's difficult to educate him, but once he learns, he learns. When it does sink in that he's hurting me, he will stop. That's the difference between him and an abuser.
So any time I'm starting to show an emotion, he honestly can't see the difference between that and building up to a mental health crisis. He wants to head off the crisis before it gets there, so he shuts me down and won't let me vent--which, if he doesn't stop it, is going to CREATE the crisis he's trying to avoid. Ever see a pressure cooker explode?