PTSD, Depression, and Divorce - When Too Much Water has Passed Under the Bridge.

It's been a very long two months.  I didn't trust myself to blog about what I was going through, so I haven't blogged about what has transpired.  I know I've always been very open about what I am going through, but sometimes you just need to take the time for yourself.

So here's the short of it:  My wife and I are getting divorced.  I know we said in earlier posts that neither one of us would take that precipitous step until we had been separated for six months, but things were just not working.

We didn't come to this decision lightly.  We committed to everything that we said we were going to commit to.  We have been giving every consideration to the impact this has on our daughter, went to marriage counseling, everything.

We attended multiple counseling sessions, together and individually.  What became very evident to both of us is that too much water had passed under the bridge.  I can't be to her what she needs and she can't be to me what I need.  Our life paths had diverged too much and there was no foundation of trust or communication for coming back from the precipice.

So...we talked. A lot.  About a month ago, we mutually agreed to move forward with divorce.  It happened on a Thursday.  That Friday, Saturday and Sunday that followed were the most emotionally intense days I have gone through since returning home from Iraq.  I completely imploded that weekend.  Emotions overwhelmed me.  The grief was intense.  I talked about it with a friend who has gone through divorce and when I told her that it felt like I was grieving for a death in the family, she told me something that I'll never forget.

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To me divorce was more emotionally intense than losing a loved one.  When a loved one dies, there's closure - it's final.  With divorce, you don't get that luxury.  You don't get closure ever - especially if you still deeply love your partner.  Especially when there's a child involved.

Well, how about that.  It definitely put what I was feeling into perspective.  While it helped, I still had to confront what was happening to me and I had to do it quickly.  I didn't have a lot of time and I had to be functional for work.  Somehow I managed to pick myself up and dust myself off by the end of the weekend.

And then something amazing happened.

I found hope in a blunt assessment of my recovery from that weekend:  That was the most intense emotional episode I have gone through since I came home from Iraq and I'm still standing...I didn't disappear down the rabbit hole again.  I didn't let the depression consume me.

Don't get me wrong, I feel the depression and anxiety 'banging on the windows' trying to get in but I have held onto everything that I have learned, and held on fiercely.  I have now, at the core of me, a steely resolve - to do right by myself, my family, and my daughter.  The inner fire is burning bright.

Just for clarification, no I don't like that I'm getting divorced.  It's had quite the impact on my self-confidence and my focus.  I think about my soon-to-be ex every day.  I worry about the long-term impact this is going to have on my daughter, despite our collective best efforts to soften the blow.  It's impacted my ability to focus on work and has caused me to question my ability to perform the tasks I have to do at work every day.

I continue to struggle every day with this whole mess, but every day is another day I prove to myself that I have the strength to endure this and come out the other side, still capable of loving and laughing.

So, what now?  Where do I go from here?  That's the trick.  I don't know.  But I'm looking forward to the journey.  I want to turn the page and start a new chapter in my life, but I really have no idea where to start.  One thing I know for certain is that I will be sharing that journey with all of you.

Yes, my PTSD has taken its toll on my life but life didn't end when we decided on divorce.  All I know for certain is that I don't want to take this journey alone.  I just need to figure out what the hell that means for me and what I want to do about it.