I think my disabled friend is a compulsion for me

Hi, I wanted to make a post because I honestly feel really alone. This is going to be long, but please bear with me and let me know if you relate or have any advice. I’m currently dating quite possibly the best guy I’ve ever met. And by FAR the best guy I’ve ever dated. We have such a strong connection and it’s my first healthy, non toxic relationship. He treats me with so much understanding, respect and kindess. But heres the thing. I have truly terrible ADHD, OCD, Anxiety Disorder, PTSD, Panic Disorder and depression. And more specifically I’ve come to realize- ROCD. I constantly have thoughts about him not wanting me, lying to me, cheating on me, etc. I’ve seen a lot of posts about having ROCD where you doubt wanting to be with the other person- but I know with everything in me I want to be with this man. What I obsess about is him leaving me. I have constant anxiety, espescially since my PTSD kicked in about a year ago. Whenever I’m physically with him, I feel incredible. I literally do not get anxiety, and if I do its considerably less harmful- and hes there to hold me and comfort me. I have trouble eating because of my anxiety, but with him that’s never the case. We’ll have a great time- but the second I leave I begin to doubt how he feels. Whether he’s with another girl. Whether it’s too good to be true. Wondering when hes going to leave. These thoughts cycle and cycle in my head in a manner that is so all-consuming I can hardly focus on anything else. If I text him and I don’t get a text back I immediately assumt the worse. I thought at the beginning it was just because we hadn’t made it official, and when we did these feeljngs would do away. But then he made it official. And they didn’t. And then I thought when it got more serious they would go away. But then he told me he was falling in love with me( I felt the same). If anything, it made it worse. I told myself when he told me he was really in love it would get better. He did. We said I love you, and still. Constant worry. He’s not a great texter or caller, but I expressed to him how much I need communication and how much it bothers me when he doesn’t respond- and he apologized (WITHOUT getting defensive) and said that he would work on it. And he HAS. But still. It’s a cycle. The anxiety waiting for a text, the dopamine rush when I get it, respond, then wait and it starts again until he responds. Then again. It’s a vicious cycle and it’s tearing me apart. We’re open with each other- so everytime I get a thought I bring it up to him for reassurance. I explained to him that I’ve been hurt so badly before. The last time I was in love/my first love- was a narcissist who took my virginity by raping me and i stayed with him for a year and a half after that until it got to be too much physical and emotional abuse and he then fucked my best friend. Told everyone I was pathological when I tried to warn people about him. Every guy I’ve started to care about since then has lead me on or used me, and the less attention they gave me the more I needed it and the more I prioritized them. My dad was a narcissist who gave me love then would dissapear, or come back and I would have to take care of him as he was depressed and suicidal (I was 4) and to this day relies so heavily on me that when I don’t respond to him he says hes going to kill himself. I understand that I have severe abandonment issues, as well as trauma, and that I most definitely have an anxious attachment style. I’ve been trying so hard for the past two years to heal myself, but now its all the more important because I can tell that even though hes patient, it hurts him that I don’t feel secure, that I don’t seem like I trust him. I said that as time goes on and I get to knkw him more it’ll get easier, but I’m terrified that may not be the case. I’m so worried that I’m going to ruin this thing, that it will be a self fulfilling prophecy and that I’m missing out on this honeymoon phase, on being happy because I’m constantly worried about when it will be taken from me. I’m in therapy and we tlak about this a lot and I know it stems from my low self esteem and people-pleasing tendencies, but it doesn’t really seem to be helping all that much. Can anyone relate? Does anyone have advice?

I was getting better for a while, and then all the sudden the fear of being a narcissist is back. I don’t know what to do anymore, as I seemed to have lost all sense of self control that I had worked so hard to get. I recently found out that my mother was emotionally abusive and neglectful to me, to the point I have a form of PTSD known as CPTSD, and people seemed to be shocked when I told them some of the things she did, and that confused me. I didn’t know or even consider the possibility she might be abusive until I saw the shock on other peoples faces. I mentioned one time where me and my sister were fighting (we are adopted) over a toy when we were little, and she got mad and locked herself in the bathroom and then proceeded to make a loud fake phone call to the judge, asking him to send people to come and get us and take us away back to our biological parents because we “didn’t want her anymore and didn’t love each other”. She made me help my sister pack a suitcase too as I cried so hard I vomited and kicked on the door and begged her to hang up because I thought she was actually calling. She made sure it was loud enough for me to hear it. She often threatened to take the car and drive away and never come back or drive it into a ditch or a lake, she’d constantly vent to me (when I was really little) about how horrible her life is or was and what happened to her (such as SA and abuse from her husband) whenever she was mad at me. She’d say very loudly how bad of a mother she is, asking why God was punishing her with this life, begging God to kill her and that she’d go to hell, call herself bad names and even hit herself. She did that a lot, threatening to call the judge or someone to take us away, telling us we weren’t grateful for her whenever we acted out like normal kids. People have told me that is abuse, and honestly part of me doesn’t believe that still. I don’t have it in me to hate her, I just can’t. I tell her everything and go to her for everything, I RELY on her for everything. I’m still coming to terms with the fact I was abused as I thought I wasn’t, or that I was spoiled and bratty. I’ve apparently (my therapist told me) developed a coping mechanism of bottling up my feelings and not expressing myself because of this, and in turn it’s made me struggle to connect with others and then I wonder if I’m capable of love because of that. My biggest fear is hurting someone, and I get so scared that I’m not capable of love because I didn’t have many people in my life that loved me or showed me what love felt like. Relationships scare me, I get scared I will hurt the person, so I often offer them multiple ways out by saying “you can leave if you want, it’s okay.” Because I genuinely want them to know that they can leave if they feel like I’m not giving them what they need. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I struggle to assert myself and will often subconsciously seek out abusive relationships because they’re comforting and apparently what I’m used to/what I feel like I deserve. I even apologize to my abusers for defending myself or telling them that I didn’t like what they were doing to me. I’m very self critical and will tell myself that every thought and every feeling I have is wrong. If I feel anger I ask myself “why am I angry? Is that a valid reason to be angry? No. You can’t be angry, that’s wrong.” Same goes for sadness or any negative emotion. Even if I have a valid reason to be upset at someone, I gaslight myself into believing that it’s not valid and that I’m being bad for feeling the way I do. However when it comes to other people, I tell them to feel their feelings and that their feelings are beautiful, and make them human because I genuinely believe that feeling things is one of the most beautiful and fascinating things a human can do. I validate them for things I would criticize myself for, and genuinely believe that the person is valid despite not feeling the same amount of compassion for myself. All of this somehow has me convinced I’m a narcissist of some kind. An abuser of mine pointed out my mothers toxic and controlling behavior, but he ended up being the same way. He would constantly tear me down, verbally/emotionally and manipulate me, telling me how horrible I was by saying I was lazy and never did anything never tell him anything never do XYZ. Now that I can see he was right about my mother, I’m worried he’s right about me too. I’ve posted about it before on here, so if you’re curious you can look to see what else he’s done. Yes, I’ve apologized to him for reacting to his abuse, and genuinely felt bad for telling him that it made me uncomfortable or hurt me. I’m worried that I don’t feel empathy, that I can’t love, that I’m a bad person. I don’t know what to do anymore, the thoughts have gotten so loud it’s overwhelming. Even though my therapist has literally told me that I often put other peoples feelings ahead of my own, to the point I don’t know who I am or how I feel, I still wonder if I’m a narcissist. She often tells me “facts over feelings” because I would make excuses for my abusers behaviors or fail to stick up for myself because I was worried about how they’d react or how THEY would feel despite me being the one abused. I know this was long, but can someone please take the time to comment if you’ve gone through something similar or know of something that can help. I’m just so lost, and I need someone, please.

Hi I'm cassi, and I am pretty new to this, and I have been reading all of your stories and shares, and I was hoping this might help me in some way. So I have always been extremely close with my mom, I am 26 and I love our relationship, she is the best mom, but lately I've been having intrusive thoughts and anxiety about how much I rely on her, and what will happen the day she passes, I know thats a long time from now, but all I can think of is what if I have a mental breakdown? What if I can't survive without her in my life? And she knows all of this, she is the main person in my life that I take to about these things with. I was just curious if this has crossed anyone else's mind. I hope everyone is having a good day!