Why am I still alive?

This question is haunting me.
After my dad’s funeral, which I didn’t attend, I have been angry and hurt.
TLDR version is that my dad was a sexual abuser and allowed others to do the same.

I’ve been on and off drugs for some time now. I’ve lied and stolen and have recently even used my body for drugs.
As a male having had abuse from a male it’s been re traumatising having other men wanting to … well you get it, but the stupidity of it all is that even though it’s shit and awful and makes me hate myself, I “get” to use and that momentarily makes me feel like I could be okay.

I just know that my mind is fucked and I’m going to end up in a gutter. I keep coming back and trying rehab and failing. How many times does someone fail at this before they just have to accept this is who they are?
I just know I am going to die this way

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Hello, I can’t relate to addictions because I don’t have any experience with those issues, but I can talk about your loss.

It’s okay to grieve for your father even if he was an asshole. He was still a big part of your childhood and it’s not shameful to feel bad about his death no matter how terrible of a person he was.
And it’s okay to hate him and be angry because of what he did.

I hope this helps even a little bit.

Hey Friend,

I recall when you posted about finding out about your dad’s passing. I feel like it’s been one huge trigger for you as It’s opened up a very deep and personal wound that has conjured up all sorts of very powerful emotions. All these different emotions have probably been confusing and you’ve needed a way to take care of them, move them somewhere else or get rid of them.

It sounds like you’ve relapsed since his passing? I Want you to know that it takes a tremendous amount of strength to somehow keep clean when a significant trigger like this happens in a person’s life. Do you have a group that you’re in that you can confide in? I know that one of my best friend’s has been able to stay clean for several years now only because he’s got his AA community to help him through the times that he wants to get back into using.

Additionally, with these very powerful emotions coming back up sometimes, as a human, it seems like the only way we can take care of them is to expose ourselves to the very thing that caused us trauma in the first place. This comes from a place of familiarity, a sense of control, and a sense that maybe…just maybe this time I’ll be able to get over it. In the moment it blankets us with a sense of safety and serenity, only to come back with a vengence and a fury.

It’s honestly a natural thing that many people do to feel okay about what ever trauma it is that they’re dealing with. Even people who are “healed” will sometimes get huge subcouncious urges to do things that bring them back to those moments.
A Helpful Way to Conceptualize and Understand Reenactments - PMC.

This research document does a really good job of describing what you’re going through… lot’s of people do this, so truly, you’re not alone.

I really do hope that you’re able to speak with a professional and you’re able to open up about these things. I feel for you, seriously. From your post about your father’s passing, to this one… you’ve been hurting for a long time and I think that you deserve to be happy and to heal from this torment.

Stay in there friend. Stay strong and stay safe.

Here’s an update, I had a bad overdose not long after this post
I completed 90day rehab/detox and am currently in sober living and have been in contact with the family who’ve been supporting me through this.

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Thank you for sharing this update, @Aaryeet. Well done for going to rehab and taking needed steps towards living a sober life. This world is better with you in it my friend. May this be the beginning of a healing and fulfilling path for you. :hrtlegolove:

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I’m so proud of you aaryeet x
Keep strong my friend

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Thank you for the support. It’s been a hard journey trying to keep on track. I have had a few moments of wanting to use again and wanting to run away. I know I could if I wanted, I know that I’m not locked up here, but I also know how hard it is to climb back up.
I was talking to a psychologist about what my dad did to me and what he let others do to me. It was so hard, all I wanted after that is to feel numb and not have to sit with the feelings and with the memories. I don’t know if my life would have played out so much differently if I lived with my mother. Maybe I’d still be an addict, but maybe I’d be sat with her and we both would be drinking or using. Maybe I’d still have allowed people to use me and my body to get us both what we wanted.

I also have a group I go to which has been good. We just talk about where we are at. It’s funny watching people struggle and wanting them to get through it and not feeling the same for myself.

The worst part of detox besides being ill is being alone with your thoughts.
The worst part of sober living is finding someone relapsed and helplessly passed out. Being scared that you’re going to be next

The best part of detox is being cocooned in safety.
The best part of sober living is not being alone.

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Hey @Aaryeet it’s great to hear from you. I imagine having so many heavy experiences to talk through weighs so heavily on your heart. Everything you’ve been through has been like an onslaught of hurt after hurt after hurt.

I imagine this internal struggle is pulling so heavily in all directions. So want to run and avoid having to relive what has happened, to want to run from the harm that self medicating has caused, to run from being exposed and the fear of being left with an open wound.

You mentioned not wanting to feel that sense of “getting through it” for yourself. I just want you to know that I’m in that corner for you. Wanting you to get through it. Knowing that the difficulty of it is not mere feat, but knowing that your right is worthy. You are worthy.

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Thank you @ManekiNeko
Look, I guess if I’m truthful it does feel easier to run and go back to the life I was living.
I’d like to believe that I’ll come through this fire stronger and reformed, but somehow it feels like I’ll come out and fall straight into the oceans and drown.

Honestly I don’t want to be alive. I feel like I have to be, you know?
I just know that the more I keep talking about how much I want to end my life that it gets worn out and the words lose their meaning.

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I sit here in my room.
I sit here in the dark.
One final needle in my arm.
Before the world turns black
Before things look too bleak
I write a goodbye to the world that doesn’t know me

Twenty one years has been an eternity.
Twenty one years and aged by cruelty.
Twenty one years to end the suffering

So why am I voicing this into a crowd of people who can’t save me? Because there’s no left by my side. Because these words will be the last thing I share. And once they are forgotten so I will also be forgotten.

I tried to be the inspired and the inspiring. I tried to be the persistence and perseverance.
Once when I was so high on any drug I could find, I woke to see a man sitting beside me. He said nothing. He got up and walked away.
I thought I would do the same. Walk away from myself and from the deep drug fuelled sleep.
You can’t escape yourself.

I’m not good at goodbyes.
These words have been typed and I hit that reply knowing that this moment will be forever frozen. That this solidifies who I am and where I ended.

Hello Aaryeet. Thank you so much for sharing this. You are still alive because you matter! You are important to me and to everyone on this platform. I was feeling the same way, didnt know who to talk to or where to turn to. I felt like my life was meaningless, and not worth it. I think of how brave you are to come on here and fight these demons that have taken over alot of people. You are not alone my friend. I am here for you. You dont have to be alone without friends because I will be your friend. You have so much to give to the world. Your so young and you have your whole life ahead of you! I am rooting for you all the way to the finish line. It always helps me to pray when I am struggling. I want to pray for you my friend. I want you to continue to know that you are not alone. You are important. I am always here for you. If you ever want to talk, I am here. I would love to hear from you. I will be praying for you my dear friend.

You matter @Aaryeet. Hoping that you are safe right now.

You know, I personally don’t have friends anymore “in real life” - only online, a few trusted friends. In my life though, I tend to live with the ghosts of the ones who are not present anymore. They may not be physically here, but they keep on being with me, no matter what. Some of them believed, like you, that they would be forgotten and disappearing was the only way forward. That their disappearance wouldn’t amount to much in the grand scheme of things. Just a new silence created into the world that no one would really hear. Almost everyday I think about the people I miss. The pain of missing someone you love does cut deeply and quite brutally most of the time. I miss their presence, their laugh, their voice, their thirst for life even during times when it has thrown horrible obstacles and pain at them. I miss the possibility of being, together.

I’m not saying any of this to make you feel guilty of course. This is only my humble attempt to speak to this part of your mind that tries to convince you that you don’t matter. That you would be insignificant. That you would be already condemned. Because it is untrue and unfair to the actually worthy and beautiful person you are. I’ve been there myself, and still fall into that trap sometimes though. I understand how hard it can be to get out of what truly feels like a rut, emotionally speaking. To wish - no… to beg - internally for just a little bit of relief and peace. For your mind to stop thinking and your heart to stop feeling altogether.

It’s hard to see our value and beauty when there is so much pain getting in the way and we are the one suffering it. It surely takes a bit of leap of faith to trust others with their own perception of you. From where I am, and even if it’s only through a computer screen, I can assure you that I see you, I hear your pain, I feel it with you, and you matter to us here. These are not just sayings - it is felt, embodied, it is real.

Ever since I’ve been at Heartsupport, I have known four people who were active on this Forum and passed away. I know their names, significant parts of their stories, I remember each conversation we’ve had both publicly here and privately. I remember comforting some of their family members when they had to contact us and deliver the bad news. For some of them, it’s been a couple of years since we’ve last interacted. For one, it will be soon a year. I don’t forget any of them, and until my last breath I will keep carrying their names and their memory with me. I think about them regularly. Sometimes I re-read our conversations. Sometimes I cry wishing something more could have been done.

Yes, maybe in several generations we will all be forgotten to some extent. But here and now, there are people who keep on sharing life with us and wish for it to continue for as long as possible. We wish to keep on trying to figure out this crazy thing that is life alongside you, Aaryeet. Not without your voice. Not with the horrible silences that death leaves wherever it goes. But with you. And that is what this part of you who posted here wants too. You are not here by mistake, and there are beautiful things, even healing, that can come out of connecting with people who see you and understand you.

You are not just a last breath. There is a story that awaits to be written ahead of you. Even if it seems to be so distant right now or even of reach. There is a world of possibilities ahead and we are rooting for you, to keep on choosing it, to keep on choosing you. :heart:

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It is good that you got the help that you needed. I hope you can work through all the trauma as well. I had to suffer my CPTSD for years and never even knew I had it until 37. I quit using and such at 21 and had a small relapse at 23. I am now 46 and July was my 23rd year anniversary clean.

I wanted to reach out to you. Your post really had me feeling some deep things and if I’m being honest it was a confronting thing. But I wanted to reach out because I wanted you to know that you haven’t left my thoughts. That even as the days or weeks have passed, I keep looking to see if you are here. I keep sending out my thoughts and love to you.

I know you have experienced the worst kinds of hurt and trauma. I know you have sought solace in substances that have left you feeling hollow. I know you have worked hard every day to find peace in your mind and soul.

What I also know is that through sharing your voice above the hurt you have made an impact to this community and to the world. You have been a silent champion to those struggling by saying “I get it and I’ve been there”. You have found space to open your heart to be a guide of love and light.

Loss is a funny thing. We feel like it won’t impact much. We think that we couldn’t possible affect the people who are usernames on screens, and somehow we find ourselves searching for those people and building up a love for them. They become a part of our lives. They become a light in our lives.

You are loved aaryeet.
I do hope and will continue to hope to see you come back. To see you shout in the face of despair that it will not conquer you. To hear the rest of your story.
Your words will not be forgotten easily. You will never be an after thought that fades to the black.

I am here. Alive. Not for lack of trying.
But I’ve been under a compulsory psychiatric hold and since I am merely a ward of the state and am in no stable frame of mind, who is there to dispute it and get me out again should they decide this is what’s good for me.
I see your words and thank you. I don’t think this life is for me.
I’m certainly not getting dragged back to that shit house.

Peace is all I’ve ever sought
Have you ever stood in your finger on the proverbial trigger and thought fucking finally.

Fucking finally.

We will see where the story leads or ends

Thank you all for your very incredible kindness