I am not the labels that are put on me

CREDIT

Please note this is a very personal post, I'm opening up because I think it's important to be open about this kind of thing and I know that it's not only me who sometimes believe I'm the labels people put on me. And I am not sharing my diagnosis and treatment to seek pity. 

Tuesday 13-05-2014, 22:02

Tomorrow (Wednesday the 14th) is going to be a bit of a nerve wrecking day for me. I'm getting a possible diagnosis. For the past 2 weeks I've done intense sessions with a therapist at a psychiatric ward with the goal to get a possible diagnosis and treatment. She did hint heavily that she sees major depressive and anxious traits, with minor borderline and OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). I believe there was something else too but I honestly don't remember. It's scary. I see why she can see that in me but it's been really hard thinking of having put more labels on me. I know I am not the labels. I know they don't define the entirety called "Malle", my whole person. But for years I've been labelled as fat, disgusting, unintelligent, not good enough, a waste of life. And I believed them, I still believe them some days. But it's also comforting to have something that explains my thought process, my behaviour.

But I also think I shouldn't be so scared. I think it's an irrational fear. I am not fat. I have fat. A lot of it. I'm not unintelligent, I mean I did pretty well in school and I'm a very opinionated person and educated on certain things, I taught myself the basics of a language when I was younger because I liked the sound of it. I am good enough because hey, I'm not a total bad person. But these labels we get stuck on based on ignorant and most often short impression of us, can linger for way too long.

I just need to believe it'll be fine no matter what. I don't feel okay, and it's okay. It won't be perfect in a month or two, but I think I realised that a while ago. I am not the labels you put on me. I am not defined by them only. I am a universe, a complex and rather odd little universe. But we all are.

Wednesday 14-05-2014, 12:57

It was so much irrational fear. I came back maybe 40 minutes ago. It's a lot to chew on. Especially because I didn't sleep well last night, my entire body is in shut down mode. But I got a diagnosis and I got a treatment plan. I have a personality disorder which triggered other things. Anxiety - basically a bunch of types of anxieties to make it more lovely and complicated - and chronic depression. I'm going to probably get medication for the anxiety. I'm saying probably because I need to have my blood pressure measured and blood tests done so they can be sure it won't harm me to take whatever pills they'll give me. And I'll have individual sessions until they feel I'm ready for group sessions.

I'm scared. I'm actually terrified. But I know it's my anxiety that's freaked out because I don't like changes. And it's idiotic to be stupid of changes, because sometimes they're actually for the good. But it's how my brain works. But I will fight my fears. I deserve to feel better than I do right now.

It's a lot to take in. But I need to remember, I am not my diagnosis. I am not anxiety, chronic depression or a personality disorder. They are parts of me, but they do not define me. I am many other things too. Things I don't know about yet, haven't learnt about myself yet. And bits I want to improve, work on or even change completely. Things I'm proud of and are positive. I am many things. But I decide which of the things are true. Because it is about me. Malle.

Me, myself and anxiety

I remember being 6 and very afraid of what people would think of me. I think we all have thought this to ourselves. "Will they like me?", "Am I good enough?", "I hope I don't say something stupid to offend them". But the fear was overwhelming. I quickly realised if I was a person people liked, I wouldn't have to worry. Even if this person wasn't the real me, it would at least hold back the huge fear. Because it was constantly there, it never really went away.

It only got worse over the years. I was scared to trust people, to talk to people. Even the people I had known for years became strange and scary. Which compared to me as a young child, a very bubbly and social butterfly, was even more scary because I could look back and see that I once was at a point where people was a good thing.

But now it's one of my biggest fears. Even family birthdays take so much of my energy. I rehearse in my head 7 days before what can happen, what I should say if I'm asked different things, what I will do if I'm not in the best mood, how much or little I should smile, how I can escape if it gets too much, how I can hide the fact that people talking to me and the loud noises scare the living crap out of me even though I've known these people since I was born.

And it's hard to express that fear. Because nothing describes it well enough. It's like drowning and seeing the surface but not being able to reach it. It's like falling into a deep hole and never seeing the end. It's like screaming but without anyone hearing it. It's like being trapped but you have the key to get out, you just don't know how to use it.

I cannot do a lot of things. I cannot go pick up a pint of milk on my own, I can't walk my dog in different areas, I cannot pick up the phone or sometimes even write an email. Some days if people talk to me on Facebook I get so overwhelmed I just log off. Because I didn't plan it, I didn't see it coming. It was too unexpected. And it's horrible, because it's often people I'm dying to ask how are. But I push myself away because I don't want to burden them.

It's always been a matter of bothering people. Being in the way. I'm constantly aware of everything around me because I don't want to be in the way. And it's so draining. It's so fucking tiring because in reality, no one could give a shit about where I stand, they can just ask me to move if it did bother them. But I'm trying to think ahead. Just like I'm counting my cash 10 times before even standing in the queue and then counting further 10 times in case I got it wrong before. Adding it all up in my very messy head and being wrong would ruin my entire day.

And I'm constantly tired. Some days it even physically hurts. Because being so aware of everything, NEEDING to be aware of everything, is very demanding. I need to know things a couple of days in advance, because else I get panic attacks because I don't feel prepared. I get stressed easily, I cry a lot and my eyes are always red and my under eyes more blue than the sky. My arms get achy from the nervous picking I tend to do because it's the only thing that calms me down, picking and scratching my arm when it's all too much.

Some days are okay. Some days I just wake up feeling tired. A little confused too, but mostly tired. I don't even bother getting dressed, I just lay in my bed and stare. Embrace the peace in my head. But then I remember the dishwasher needs emptying, there's clothes in the washing room that's not folded - and it's not even mine - and my desk looks dirty and the frames look a bit too tilted to the left and what if someone calls me, should I answer it or should I do as I always do, turn it off and hide it because it's always a number I don't know and it makes me very uncomfortable.

I'm always uncomfortable. It's what anxiety does.

- I wrote this because lately it's hasn't been easy to control things. I don't like losing control and I don't like not being the one making decisions about my life. And it makes me sleep very poorly which triggers anxiety even more. I'm not writing things to make you feel bad for me. I don't care for being pitied. But if you feel the same, it'll be okay. Some days are worse than others, but you'll be okay. I was okay for a while, but suddenly things come up and the hell burns again. But it'll pass. Hang in there, hang in there with me. We can do this.