Posted by turtle on October 17, 2008, at 22:54:20
In reply to Mental Illness in Your...., posted by JayMac on October 17, 2008, at 19:08:08
I've thought about my parents quite a bit lately with the mental illness question.
Both of my parents have severe issues. But what? If I had to pick the things out of the DSM that were closest to how they are I would not be able to do it. I'm not a pro, admittedly, but I've adsorbed quite a bit in the past few years of trying to figure out my own stuff that it seems I should be able to define things better? I agree, it's not all about the DSM.. It's not always easy to put things into categories.
What bothers me the most though is my father. Maybe this isn't a good thing to say, but I've always thought of both of my parents as beyond help. I just can't imagine either of them in therapy. My dad was mandated to go to therapy briefly once and he totally manipulated the situation. The disturbing thing though is that as I have worked on becoming more self aware in my therapy, I began to use many of the same terms to describe myself as I do when I think about my dad. I see many similarities between us, both in our struggles and in the messed up ways that we cope. What does that mean for me? If I am to acknowledge that my father and I are similar, one of these views has to shift. Am I as beyond hope as he is? Or do I re-examine my judgment of him? (Understanding and forgiveness?) I'm not ready to go there at all.
Ok, I just upset myself. I need to go spend some time remembering all of our differences now! The choices you make play a part in this too!
Turtle
poster:turtle
thread:857980
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20081005/msgs/858039.html