To give me perspective, my therapist played a nice trick on me. She asked me to take a mental health survey that focuses on traumatic events that you have experienced since childhood. I took the survey at home and printed the results and took it back to my therapist.
I scored very high on the scale with the trauma that I have experienced since I was 5 years old. Here's the kicker.
According to the results, statistically speaking, I should've been chronically depressed, serious suicidal ideation, addicted to drugs and other substances, unable to hold consistent employment, homeless or living in very marginal settings, in very poor health, unable to function in social settings, and have fractured family relationships.
I am NONE of those things.
I was depressed for a while, but not chronically depressed. I have never contemplated suicide. I have never been addicted to drugs and substances. I am in a great job and I am a high performer. I live modestly, but I am nowhere near being homeless and I have a nice loving home, my health issues are genetic and I mostly have it all under control, I am very sociable and intelligent, and I have strong family relationships.
So, despite everything that has happened to me, I am here alive and well and thriving. I do not need to be a survivor or a victim. What I have overcome and the resilience that I have shown in life is far more important. And that I have accomplished that gave me perspective that BD is something I can overcome and be stronger. I have become and will continue to work hard to be a man only a fool would leave.
It's about mindset, perspective, knowing who you are, what your values are, and aligning all of that in pursuit of your goals and dreams. That's what I am about.
