Individual Therapy: An Upsetting Realization

This past Wednesday, I had my weekly meeting with my individual therapist and she expressed some concern about how black and white I was.  She didn't express concern with the way I was black and white in the fiasco that was my last group session.  She asked me if I was this black and white about most things in life in general.  I said I was.  She asked me if that bothered me and I said that it didn't really.  Then she went on to give me scenarios:  work, social gatherings, making friends, working with others in my non-profit.  What happens in those situations when someone violates some aspect of my code?

My response?  I rationalized it all away.  The upsetting part is that I didn't realize that's what I had done until after the fact.  It hit me later that night and ran me over like a train when I had time to think through it more fully.  The inability to see and accept shades of grey is what has held me back at work and from making friends.

At Work:  I voluntarily stepped down from a management position because I was too stressed out all of the time and was having difficulty handling my anger when people did little thinks that would trigger the massive overreaction that would ensue.  Most of the time, I didn't show the overreaction and that's what made me so stressed and so exhausted all of the time.  Up until this moment, I didn't realize that it wasn't the job that was stressing me out - I was my PTSD getting triggered.  How about them apples?

Friendship:  I haven't been able to make any friends for a while.  Every time I make one, they do something that violates some minor aspect of my 'code' and I refuse to bend because 'I don't operate that way'.  I have alienated almost all of the people I considered friends not solely because of what they did, but also because they violated my personal code which I have been treating as inviolable.  The end result?  I write them off and cease all contact because 'I don't need their shit'.

The End Result:  Through unwitting actions I have taken, I have succeeded in halting my career progression and alleviated myself of friendships that should have been long-standing ones.  Way to go me.  The worst part is what it has done to my self-esteem and estimation of my self-worth.  I feel like a pariah.  I don't like the person I see in the mirror.  I feel worthless.

The Solution?:  Hell if I know, but at least I have made that realization and have somewhere to start from and something to work on.  If this is what many of us go through in professional settings and in friendships, no wonder we have a tendency to live very isolated lives.  Well, at least I know what I am going to be working on with my therapist over the coming weeks and months.  I can't let this stand.  Having success in starting my non-profit has only made me realize that I need more than an hourly wage at work.  I need to live up to my level or experience and knowledge and work to put myself in a position to affect real progress in my professional life.  Having started the non-profit also made me realize that, other than my wife and my parents, I have no one to share my passion with - no one to celebrate with.  I'm tired of feeling lonely.  Maybe it's time I go find a wading pool...