Your Online Counselor Forum

Hi Cathy, You may be right in thinking that your family may be a source of ongoing pain for you, but you need to take care of yourself in the short-term. You are being excluding from the funeral planning aspects but it's important to decide how to say goodbye to your mother, no matter what your curr...

Hi Cathy, Sorry to hear about your mother, but I do understand that you also feel relief that she isn't around anymore. However, there will be grief -- but it will be grief for the mother you never had. This grieving has been going on for some time, perhaps unconsciously, but the actual death may tr...

Hi labarrett, Thanks for commenting and welcome to the forum. From what you describe, you are in a situation of emotional isolation because your husband cannot see what is happening due to his lifetime training by his mother, and the failure of his father (if he is/was around during his formation ye...

Hi Apaloosa, I'm sorry you had to grow up with a narcissistic sister -- if she was older than you then that meant that she had power over you in the family unit. You may carry wounds from that family unit, which likely went unchecked by your parents. Narcissists have very fragile egos, hence the ext...

Hi All is Myth, What has started out as a problem with your MIL is really about the problems you are having with your husband. It's difficult without actually knowing more about your problem to know if either of these significant people are actually narcissists, but your principal problem is the lac...

Hi Emms, No need to feel stupid at all -- you're not stupid, you have had been subjected to emotional abuse, which is easier to dismiss and minimize but is actually just as harmful if not worse than many forms of physical abuse, the latter of which is at least visible. It would really help if you so...

Hi Emms, I'm sorry you've had this experience with your birth family and it has led to so much hardship for you. The fact that your partner has died at (presumably) such a young age and your parents have not responded appropriately signifies that there is something terribly wrong with the dynamics i...

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is one of the anxiety disorders and should not be confused with the lesser known Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder(OCPD) which is also discussed on the main website. Most people have heard of OCD, but few understand the differing levels of development of t...

The effects of having a parent with borderline personality disorder can be confusing and painful, particularly as it can take decades to work out that your parent actually suffers from a mental illness. The link below gives one examples - other articles on the main forum on BPD provide insights into...

For all articles on Borderline Personality Disorder, click on the link below. This will take you to the full suite of articles on this condition.

http://youronlinecounselor.com/Borderline.htm

Best wishes,

Beth