u/TreacleAromatic3441

So I went on a mental health forum when I was feeling extremely depressed and there was a person who told me they really liked interacting with me and they seemed really kind, supportive and caring. They told me how much they liked interacting with me and eventually followed me, comments on all of my posts, my comments on his posts, and even my comments on other people's posts. He even praised me in his post and tags me all the time.

He started PMing me and we really encouraged me to open up emotionally. I felt like we were sharing a deeply emotionally intimate connection and it felt really wonderful but also addictive to be validated like that, I dont have any other emotionally intimate relationships. However, this guy sends me about 20 PMs a day plus all the other comments. It prevents me from being on the rest of the board.

Suddenly I started to realize that he kept probing me to open up more and implied I wasnt being vulnerable enough with him and so I felt bad even though I thought I was and then turned my emotions up to 11. ​but he still keeps asking for more. Then it dawned on me he hasnt actually been that emotionally open himself. I am also seeing his mask slip and he has said some pretty shallow things. He now seems totally different that who he was in the beginning. I think he might be a narcissist. He said he got I to the most prestigious school in the US for a very prestigious profession which I now realize he probably made up.

I very nicely told him that I want to just chat on the forum not in the messages because it was overwhelming. He said he understood, but the day after he PMed again to "check in" and clarify how I wanted to interact on the forum now. I think it may have been a subtle boundary violation because he could very well just keep doing what he has been doing.

I feel so sucked in. Im sad that this connection was probably not genuine. There is still a part of me that actually wants to hold onto it. A nagging part of me even wonders if maybe it could actually be real and I am just self sabotaging. I hate that my attachment style makes me latch on so hard to anyone who shows me a little validation or makes me feel special. I also genuinely do not know how to navigate this connection now, I do not know what to say to him. I want to stay on the forum, it gave me a sense of purpose supporting others there and feeling like a part of a community albeit a mentally ill one. Any thoughts?

So I went on a mental health forum when I was feeling extremely depressed and there was a person who told me they really liked interacting with me and they seemed really kind, supportive and caring. They told mw hoe much they liked interacting with me and eventually followed me, comments on all of my posts, my comments on his posts, and even my comments on other people's posts. He even praised me in his post and tags me all the time.

He started PMing me and we really encouraged me to open up emotionally. I felt like we were sharing a deeply emotionally intimate connection and it felt really wonderful but also addictive to be validated like that, I dont have any other emotionally intimate relationships. However, this guy sends me about 20 PMs a day plus all the other comments. It prevents me from being on the rest of the board.

Suddenly I started ro realize that he kept probing me to ipen up more and implied I wasnt being vulnerable enough with him and so I felt bad even though I thought I was and then turned my emotions up to 11. ​but he still keeps asking for more. Then it dawned on me he hasnt actually been that emotionally open himself. I am also seeing his mask slip and he has said some pretty shallow things. He now seems totally different that who he was in the beginning. I think he might be a narcissist. He said he got I to the most prestigious school in the US for a very prestigious profession which I now realize he probably made up.

I very nicely told him that I want to just chat on the forum not in the messages because it was overwhelming. He said he understood, but the day after he PMed again to "check in" and clarify how I wanted ro interact on the forum now. I think it may have been a subtle boundary violation because he could cery well just keep doing what he has been doing.

I feel so sucked in. Im sad that this connection was probably not genuine. There is still a part of me that actually wants to hold onto it. A nagging part of me even wonders if maybe it could actually be real and I am just self sabotaging. I hate that my attachment style makes me latch on so hard to anyone who shows me a little validation or makes me feel special. I also genuinely do not know how to navigate this connection now, I do not know what to say to him. I want to stay on the forum, it gave me a sense of purpose supporting others there and feeling like a part of a community albeit a mentally ill one. Any thoughts?

Based on the NDE research and people like Delores Cannon and Michael Newton, are souls that commit suicide going to reincarnate into an equally hard life next time in order to learn whatever your soul originally came here to learn?

I struggle with trying to find a balance between giving a client their autonomy without being too passive. I am afraid of being too controlling so I think sometimes I do not do enough to help empower a client. I am frustrated because I have a client who was in a higher level of care 2 years ago and since then they have had career instability. They took a very generous severance package that gave them almost half a year to find another job but they did not start looking until the very last minute and as a result has ended up in a very dire financial situation. ​I would ask them about their progress in looking and they would acknowledge that they needed to but had not. I did at one point offer to have them look for jobs during session in case they needed the body doubling to hold them accountable, but they declined. They lost their benefits and paused therapy temporarily and I provided them with all sorts of resources. They reached back out later and I agreed to ​​see them for a sliding scale fee with thr condition that they look for a job. I do like this client but I am so frustrated that they didnt utilize any of the resources I provided and that they just keep digging themselves into a deeper hole that I cannot help them out of. I know they are seeing me for a reason. I know they have mental health symptoms. I also am frustrated that I may not have done enough for this client and wonder what else I should have done. What would you have done in this situation?

Could CFS just be mast cell issues? Not to discredit or invalidate anyone's diagnosis/symptoms or anything, but I am truly wondering how strong of a connection there is between MCAS and CFS. Has anyone with a CFS diagnosis tried mast cell stabilizers and a low histamine diet and not seen improvement?

I struggle with whether or not to bring up my health to other people. I worry that it will be burdensome for other people to hear and I dont want to bring them down, but I also wish they knew what I was going through. I am so anxious and depressed about my myriad of health issues and I want them to know why I am the way I am or cannot do certain things. ​ ​On the flip side, if I dont tell them I worry that they will assume I am lazy or standoffish. But then I also worry that people will think I am using my health as an excuse. It feels like a lose-lose situation. Its so isolating to have all these health issues. ​