You Are Not Alone - PLEASE READ

2

Comments

  • edited August 2016
    I think Lusternia is a very nice place so I doubt anything like that will happen.
  • @Ashiya  I do understand where you are coming from with a lot of your points. Like @Sylvanas said though there are probably a lot of people like that around. I know myself when there's people around novices or commune leaders I get a bit nervous trying to impress them and its even worse when there are the more impressive figures around like @Sikris + @Rancoura , who sort of blow me away with their presence sometimes.

    Its really enjoyable but sometimes I do feel a bit like "AHH HELP! MUST TRY HARDER TO IMPRESS!" and then its panic time and I feel a bit flat footed :dizzy:

    Enjoy the game and from what I've seen of you so far you'll fit in really well. 
  • I have the same problem that @Veyils has with feeling like I need to impress, and I never feel like what I'm emoting is good enough or memorable enough. The most frustrating bit is after some good RP I start to think back on it and feel like everything I RPed was dumb. :P

    It's even worse when things I know nothing about are brought up, or there's more than one person RPing around me. I sort of just shut down and keep quiet. 
  • XenthosXenthos Shadow Lord
    If you're trying to RP to impress, you're doing it wrong (in my opinion).  There are a lot of people over the years who I've seen just Try Too Hard.  You need to do something that you're comfortable with & enjoy.  The more you practice, the better you'll get, and it will feel natural.  Don't try to force it, and you don't have to "try to be memorable".  You'll make good moments, and they'll be all the better for the fact that they are true to your character / intent.

    That said: Don't shut down.  Maybe it'll be easier to participate if you aren't feeling like you need to be "perfect".  Give it a shot!
    image
  • EveriineEveriine Wise Old Swordsbird / Brontaur Indianapolis, IN, USA
    And, importantly, a longer emote doesn't necessarily mean a better one. If I had to choose between shorter emotes that allowed for more interplay between my character and yours, or waiting 15 minutes for a paragraph-length emote that doesn't move the action/story forward very far, I'd rather have the shorter emotes that allow us to play off each other.
    Everiine is a man, and is very manly. This MAN before you is so manly you might as well just gender bend right now, cause he's the manliest man that you ever did see. His manly shape has spurned many women and girlyer men to boughs of fainting. He stands before you in a manly manerific typical man-like outfit which is covered in his manly motto: "I am a man!"

    Daraius said: You gotta risk it for the biscuit.

    Pony power all the way, yo. The more Brontaurs the better.
  • edited September 2016
    Rancoura said:
    @Ashiya: For what it's worth, I think you are an excellent roleplayer. You're fantastic at interacting with/responding to your environment, and I haven't thought a single bad thing about what you've shown so far -- in fact, I've been impressed with your consideration and creativity. Keep it up, and try not to be so critical of yourself! :smile:
    I can also agree with this statement. I love seeing little peeks at @Ashiya as a character. I am not always on the top of my game, and its hard for me to admit that it happens, but it does! Take Rancoura's advice, and try to just let things flow, grasshopper - You'll feel better about it. :)
    The apple is cold, crisp, and sour as the juices fill your mouth. As you consume the fruit, you glimpse, for a moment, a massive, shadowy figure, Her snow-white hair framing a perfect, icy-eyed visage. Beneath you, a vast, perfect web of silken strands lies - and, for a moment, you realize that you too are part of it, weaver and strand both - and home.
  • EveriineEveriine Wise Old Swordsbird / Brontaur Indianapolis, IN, USA
    If @Rancoura thinks you're a good roleplayer, there's little doubt!
    Everiine is a man, and is very manly. This MAN before you is so manly you might as well just gender bend right now, cause he's the manliest man that you ever did see. His manly shape has spurned many women and girlyer men to boughs of fainting. He stands before you in a manly manerific typical man-like outfit which is covered in his manly motto: "I am a man!"

    Daraius said: You gotta risk it for the biscuit.

    Pony power all the way, yo. The more Brontaurs the better.
  • So. Stream of consciousness time... I'll try not to remove anything I write, and I'll see if I can press the "Post Comment" button at the end of this.

    I've always looked at the thread of this title with a little bit of a chuckle. "You Are Not Alone"... But what if your problem is that you are? Because that's kindof where I am, and have always been. I've never really had any friends, and a girlfriend is so far off it's not even funny. I guess it's because every time I've asked, it's always been "no", ranging from a friendly "I like you too, but as a friend" (or brother, etc) to the more hostile slaps, kicks, and even a few "Eww"s. After 35 years of that, well, I've kinda given up on it. Not sure what's wrong with me, but if Hitler can have three wives, and seral murderers can have girlfriend after girlfriend, I'm apparently worse than they are.

    On the "friends" part of the spectrum, I simply have none. At least none that are close enough that I can speak to them outside of work (right now, I'd possibly consider two people friends, but again, we never speak outside of work). Essentially, my whole social world is "work" and "parents and brothers". That's it. And it's been that way for... well, the last 15 years, since I left university (and at that point, you could simply replace "work" with "school").

    Essentially, it's all built up to a point where I'm pretty depressed about it. I've always had low points during the year (generally around spring; probably no surprise there), but this year, I never really bounced back from that. I've had problems sleeping for the last... half year or so (I might go into a possible trigger for that point, we'll see), and it all came to a head about two months ago. As usual, I hadn't slept properly (normally I sleep roughly 8 hours, but during that half year I generally slept 5-6 hours), and I was feeling like crap at work. So I went home after about half the day, and rested up. I was off for two more days, and at that point I felt like I was kinda ready to go back. Well, I wasn't. The night before my next work day, I simply couldn't sleep. I called in sick again about 2 AM. After that, I pretty much hit a wall. Nothing really meant anything anymore, and my days essentially became trying to find something to do until it was time to sleep again.

    After a week of not bouncing back from it, I went to the doctor to see what could be done. That doctor referred me to a "workplace physician" (essentially, my employer pays for that health care) since it started at work. I went there, and spoke to one person. She referred me onwards to a psychologist, and, well, we kinda put down a base line of how much everything sucked for me at that point. Unfortunately, though, she was paid by my job, and I kinda don't want my employers to find out too much about me being depressed (not that I think they'd fire me, but it's a very... well, complex work place; I have four bosses at work, and three of them have various relations there; the one in charge of me has a girlfriend in the department I've switched to, and another of my bosses have a sister that is the head of another department (which I used to be in, so we know eachother well), whose husband is the head of the department I'm in now. The third boss is an extreme chatter, and also has a girlfriend at a department I used to be at pretty often in the past. Essentially, I didn't really see any reality where the whole warehouse didn't find out exactly what was wrong with me.

    That lead to me going back to the first care center, and I got to see a fourth person, and restart the whole process again. I was pretty evasive about why I didn't continue at the workplace physician, since I didn't want to be redirected there again. That one doctor was probably the best of the bunch. He asked the right questions, and pretty much went "Yep, textbook depression. I'm definitely kicking you back to work to get you going socially again, but here are some sleeping pills to get you sleeping". He also put me on a queue to see another psychologist, and about three weeks later (one week ago now), I met her the first time. Let's just say I pretty much broke down at that point, but that was kindof the plan, I guess. I had taken the whole day off, and it was on a friday, so I did have the weekend to recover. I kinda needed it.

    Anyway, I met with her again this last friday as well, and we pretty much went through it bit by bit. I've always known my problem (essentially, it all boils down to trust, which isn't surprising since I was bullied pretty much constantly in "basic school" (the first nine years over here), as well as all the rejections and never really having anyone I could actually trust without them stabbing me in the back). I still don't trust anyone, really. I'm the only one with keys to my apartment, and I've never told anyone (before now) what was wrong with me; everyone at work (including the two friends I mentioned earlier) thinks that I just couldn't sleep, and that the only cure was sleeping pills. I haven't really explained my two absent fridays, but I'm not sure what they think about that; I'm guessing they think I'm just overworked and that I'm still not back 100%, but we've never really talked about it.

    Obviously, my psychologists suggestion was pretty simple to figure out before I even went there: to share it with one of my friends. Put bluntly, I can't really do that at this point in time, since... well, we work together, and on the off-chance that they reject me afterwards (and that is an extremely slim chance), we'd still have to meet up at work afterwards. And (as I think would happen, intellectually if not emotionally) she would just break down with me (and I'm fairly sure I'd break down), I can't be sure how much she'd tell other people about it, or how she'd change her behavior towards me. I'm fairly sure she'd have my own best in mind, but I've often noticed that those kind of things generally have a way to go awry, and she'd talk to people about it that I wouldn't want her to talk to.

    So... That kinda brings me to here. I have to start somewhere, and you guys are the only ones I can really talk to about it (considering the anonymity that a computer screen gives me). It's probably not as cartharcic (?) as it needs to be, but at least it's better than keeping it all bottled up and just keeping it to myself.

    So. The reason I stopped sleeping well... I honestly think it all has to do with one of my coworkers. As I said, I've been single for... well, for 36 years now, so I'm kindof clumsy socially. Anyway, we got a new addition at the department I used to work at; I'm pretty handy with computers, so I pretty much kept everything running with the computer systems (not that the head of that department can't manage, but I can do a lot more than she can). This new addition was her new assistant, and I kindof fell for her in a big way. Every time in the past, I've never really been able to see me being with anyone, but with her, it just... yeah, it feels right. We're both vegetarians, we're very similar politically, we both have the same kind of humor... we simply connect. There's only one issue, and that is that she's 13 years younger than I am. Yes, I know "age is just a number", but... well, first of all, people would talk. That's just natural. Second, I fear that she'd grow apart from me over the years, and... well, I'd be back at where I started, only now I'd actually know what it was I've been missing all these years (and that's probably what's been keeping me going; since I've always been alone, I've never really know any other life and could compare it).

    Don't get me wrong, I've not avoided her or anything. If anything, I've been over the top with my flirting ("Oh yes, I agree with you completely! What am I agreeing with this time?", "I'd do everything for you *flutter eyelashes*" etc etc), and she hasn't exactly been chased away by it, so I'm not sure what she's feeling for me. To me, it essentially feels like we've been tip-toeing around eachother. Or rather, we were, until two of our coworkers decided to meddle. The first overheard me doing my usual preaching of her virtues, and essentially went "So, new boyfriend?"... at which point she quickly got a shirt that my crush had in her hands thrown at her. Two days later, another coworker came over to us and asked how the lovebirds were doing (at which point my crush simply went "Can't people just leave us alone?", which again I've probably overanalysed to bits by now.

    Anyway. I'm at a different department, and even though I still see her from time to time, we don't work side by side (at least not for now; odds are I'll be shifted back to my old apartment when the workload there picks up, considering I accidentally broke four or five records last year when I headed it). We still talk, we still have fun, but it's more relaxed now, so I think that's for the best (at least, as I said, for now).

    Anyway, I think it's time to round off this one. While I've been extremely down these last few months, at least it's getting better, so there's no need to worry about me. Hopefully I'll be able to work up the courage to speak to someone other than my psychologist about this face to face, but... yeah; as I said, trust isn't exactly a big point with me right now. One day though.

    And that about wraps it up, I think. Sorry if it got a bit incoherent (I haven't gone back and changed anything written, so I'm not sure how much it makes sense), but if you're with me this far, thanks for reading.
    image
  • SiamSiam Whispered Voice
    Ssaliss said:
    So. Stream of consciousness time... I'll try not to remove anything I write, and I'll see if I can press the "Post Comment" button at the end of this.

    I've always looked at the thread of this title with a little bit of a chuckle. "You Are Not Alone"... But what if your problem is that you are? Because that's kindof where I am, and have always been. I've never really had any friends, and a girlfriend is so far off it's not even funny. I guess it's because every time I've asked, it's always been "no", ranging from a friendly "I like you too, but as a friend" (or brother, etc) to the more hostile slaps, kicks, and even a few "Eww"s. After 35 years of that, well, I've kinda given up on it. Not sure what's wrong with me, but if Hitler can have three wives, and seral murderers can have girlfriend after girlfriend, I'm apparently worse than they are.

    On the "friends" part of the spectrum, I simply have none. At least none that are close enough that I can speak to them outside of work (right now, I'd possibly consider two people friends, but again, we never speak outside of work). Essentially, my whole social world is "work" and "parents and brothers". That's it. And it's been that way for... well, the last 15 years, since I left university (and at that point, you could simply replace "work" with "school").

    Essentially, it's all built up to a point where I'm pretty depressed about it. I've always had low points during the year (generally around spring; probably no surprise there), but this year, I never really bounced back from that. I've had problems sleeping for the last... half year or so (I might go into a possible trigger for that point, we'll see), and it all came to a head about two months ago. As usual, I hadn't slept properly (normally I sleep roughly 8 hours, but during that half year I generally slept 5-6 hours), and I was feeling like crap at work. So I went home after about half the day, and rested up. I was off for two more days, and at that point I felt like I was kinda ready to go back. Well, I wasn't. The night before my next work day, I simply couldn't sleep. I called in sick again about 2 AM. After that, I pretty much hit a wall. Nothing really meant anything anymore, and my days essentially became trying to find something to do until it was time to sleep again.

    After a week of not bouncing back from it, I went to the doctor to see what could be done. That doctor referred me to a "workplace physician" (essentially, my employer pays for that health care) since it started at work. I went there, and spoke to one person. She referred me onwards to a psychologist, and, well, we kinda put down a base line of how much everything sucked for me at that point. Unfortunately, though, she was paid by my job, and I kinda don't want my employers to find out too much about me being depressed (not that I think they'd fire me, but it's a very... well, complex work place; I have four bosses at work, and three of them have various relations there; the one in charge of me has a girlfriend in the department I've switched to, and another of my bosses have a sister that is the head of another department (which I used to be in, so we know eachother well), whose husband is the head of the department I'm in now. The third boss is an extreme chatter, and also has a girlfriend at a department I used to be at pretty often in the past. Essentially, I didn't really see any reality where the whole warehouse didn't find out exactly what was wrong with me.

    That lead to me going back to the first care center, and I got to see a fourth person, and restart the whole process again. I was pretty evasive about why I didn't continue at the workplace physician, since I didn't want to be redirected there again. That one doctor was probably the best of the bunch. He asked the right questions, and pretty much went "Yep, textbook depression. I'm definitely kicking you back to work to get you going socially again, but here are some sleeping pills to get you sleeping". He also put me on a queue to see another psychologist, and about three weeks later (one week ago now), I met her the first time. Let's just say I pretty much broke down at that point, but that was kindof the plan, I guess. I had taken the whole day off, and it was on a friday, so I did have the weekend to recover. I kinda needed it.

    Anyway, I met with her again this last friday as well, and we pretty much went through it bit by bit. I've always known my problem (essentially, it all boils down to trust, which isn't surprising since I was bullied pretty much constantly in "basic school" (the first nine years over here), as well as all the rejections and never really having anyone I could actually trust without them stabbing me in the back). I still don't trust anyone, really. I'm the only one with keys to my apartment, and I've never told anyone (before now) what was wrong with me; everyone at work (including the two friends I mentioned earlier) thinks that I just couldn't sleep, and that the only cure was sleeping pills. I haven't really explained my two absent fridays, but I'm not sure what they think about that; I'm guessing they think I'm just overworked and that I'm still not back 100%, but we've never really talked about it.

    Obviously, my psychologists suggestion was pretty simple to figure out before I even went there: to share it with one of my friends. Put bluntly, I can't really do that at this point in time, since... well, we work together, and on the off-chance that they reject me afterwards (and that is an extremely slim chance), we'd still have to meet up at work afterwards. And (as I think would happen, intellectually if not emotionally) she would just break down with me (and I'm fairly sure I'd break down), I can't be sure how much she'd tell other people about it, or how she'd change her behavior towards me. I'm fairly sure she'd have my own best in mind, but I've often noticed that those kind of things generally have a way to go awry, and she'd talk to people about it that I wouldn't want her to talk to.

    So... That kinda brings me to here. I have to start somewhere, and you guys are the only ones I can really talk to about it (considering the anonymity that a computer screen gives me). It's probably not as cartharcic (?) as it needs to be, but at least it's better than keeping it all bottled up and just keeping it to myself.

    So. The reason I stopped sleeping well... I honestly think it all has to do with one of my coworkers. As I said, I've been single for... well, for 36 years now, so I'm kindof clumsy socially. Anyway, we got a new addition at the department I used to work at; I'm pretty handy with computers, so I pretty much kept everything running with the computer systems (not that the head of that department can't manage, but I can do a lot more than she can). This new addition was her new assistant, and I kindof fell for her in a big way. Every time in the past, I've never really been able to see me being with anyone, but with her, it just... yeah, it feels right. We're both vegetarians, we're very similar politically, we both have the same kind of humor... we simply connect. There's only one issue, and that is that she's 13 years younger than I am. Yes, I know "age is just a number", but... well, first of all, people would talk. That's just natural. Second, I fear that she'd grow apart from me over the years, and... well, I'd be back at where I started, only now I'd actually know what it was I've been missing all these years (and that's probably what's been keeping me going; since I've always been alone, I've never really know any other life and could compare it).

    Don't get me wrong, I've not avoided her or anything. If anything, I've been over the top with my flirting ("Oh yes, I agree with you completely! What am I agreeing with this time?", "I'd do everything for you *flutter eyelashes*" etc etc), and she hasn't exactly been chased away by it, so I'm not sure what she's feeling for me. To me, it essentially feels like we've been tip-toeing around eachother. Or rather, we were, until two of our coworkers decided to meddle. The first overheard me doing my usual preaching of her virtues, and essentially went "So, new boyfriend?"... at which point she quickly got a shirt that my crush had in her hands thrown at her. Two days later, another coworker came over to us and asked how the lovebirds were doing (at which point my crush simply went "Can't people just leave us alone?", which again I've probably overanalysed to bits by now.

    Anyway. I'm at a different department, and even though I still see her from time to time, we don't work side by side (at least not for now; odds are I'll be shifted back to my old apartment when the workload there picks up, considering I accidentally broke four or five records last year when I headed it). We still talk, we still have fun, but it's more relaxed now, so I think that's for the best (at least, as I said, for now).

    Anyway, I think it's time to round off this one. While I've been extremely down these last few months, at least it's getting better, so there's no need to worry about me. Hopefully I'll be able to work up the courage to speak to someone other than my psychologist about this face to face, but... yeah; as I said, trust isn't exactly a big point with me right now. One day though.

    And that about wraps it up, I think. Sorry if it got a bit incoherent (I haven't gone back and changed anything written, so I'm not sure how much it makes sense), but if you're with me this far, thanks for reading.
    -hugs @Ssaliss-

    Thank you for sharing this. Baby steps, baby steps - I'm sure things will get better if you keep at it. Just don't give up! :) I'm not good with relationships myself - I've shut down all my social media accounts except for Instagram(which I haven't checked in over a month now) - but hopefully someone else from Lusternia's community will be able to give their thoughts on the matter. 
    Viravain, Lady of the Thorns shouts, "And You would seize Me? Fool! I am the Glomdoring! I am the Wyrd, and beneath the cloak of Night, the shadows of the Silent stir!"

    #bringShikariback 


  • edited December 2016
    nevermind
  • Thank you to kind people  - @ssaliss, @rideta, @Ellowyn  - for helping me when I needed it. I have no words for my gratitude.
  • I stopped to believe in humanity years ago. I don't want to talk about my problems and depression here and I don't expect to be understood (the psychiatrist option didn't work at all. How could it even work?! Completely useless. The only "good" part was the prescription that allowed me to take antidepressants since 2012 but they're not working 100% obviously since the problems are always there....so,eh...)

    But it's always good to know that there are some people here and there who have enough sensitivity to worry about others. I appreciate it.


  • Dusiana said:
    I stopped to believe in humanity years ago. 

    * I stopped believing in humanity years ago. Sorry for my english.
  • This week has been a rough week for me. It is the anniversary of events that led me to the brink of suicide almost 2 years ago. I have spend years and years trying to cope with those events on my own by being constantly active. I volunteered for every mission, I did volunteer work and if I had nothing else I played games. I polarized towards strict and fully withdrawn in real life and overemotional and clingy in Lusternia (those that know my alt will be able to attest to that). I actually left Lusternia because of the second part.  And in the end I did nothing but sleep and work, I had no energy for anything else.

     

    Anyway I had myself voluntarily admitted to a closed psych ward and while I was there I actually regained hope and some self-confidence together with a bunch of labels like PTSS. But the day hospital afterwards ruined quite a bit of that. I left the day clinic on advise of my military psychiatrist and also resigned my commission to find a new job to take me away from similar situations. Right after resigning I fell in a bit of a black hole because I also lost all medical support, then the terror attacks in Brussels happened and I was fully doped up on adrenaline during the entire first response there. But afterwards every bit of willpower I had left was used up and I ended up crying for god knows how long. That crying actually helped, and I slowly am trying to get my life together again by getting a new job, trying to make new friends (surprisingly hard past 30) and just trying to find things I love. However I still think about the initial events, they still hurt, and I have spells of dark thoughts and I while I know I should speak to someone in those case I generally do not build up the courage to do so.

    Writing this helped for today though, so thank you for making this topic.

  • edited May 2017
    This post has no set format, it was written as I thought of it.

    This thread is typically largely upsetting for me to read.

    I see so many people who seem incredibly broken find something that works.

    A large part of it is likely envy for the support shown to them.

    Do you ever feel like less than human? Like you'll never be more than who you were say five years ago? No matter how hard you run from it? 

    I used to think I was just lonely, so I made friends. But as soon as these people aren't in my immediate area to talk to, I feel empty. I thought maybe it's because I didn't have a social life like my friends did, so I went to parties, did the drugs, sex, and alcohol bit. But on the ride home, the same hollow feeling returned. So I thought maybe my fear of being poor/broke was the reason I was always low, so I started working as much as I could, dedicating 11-13 hours of my day between two jobs. But the same fucking feeling always finds its way back.

    I've went to get professional help after I thought it was a legitimately okay for me to drive in the opposite lane but backed out of it right before I got to the point of doing it.

    I've had medicine, therapy, tried religion, tried keeping busy, pursuing my dreams.

    Everything just leaves me feeling empty.

    I feel the only reason I keep going is that maybe, one day, I can be one of the people who "beat" "it" and encourage others who are fighting "it".

    Disorderly post is disorderly.

    The deep, rumbling voice of Weiwae says from within your heart, "I am so happy to hear of your progress, and I thank you for bringing my influence over more shards of My Brother Tae."
  • I'm in the middle of a rough week. Thank you to everyone who has, knowingly or not, aware of the severity or not, been present for me the last few days. 

    From (the middle of) my experience, I must say: Reach out. Talk to someone. I am terrible at asking for help or admiting I do not have things together, but there really is no room for that pride at this point. Doctors, therapists, friends, family. Do not write off your Lusternian friends because they are not "real," they care too. Ask for help, and sooner rather than later. It feels like the only thing I have done right this week, but I think it is critically important.
  • So... I know no one really knows me that well here, but certain real-life-issues make it difficult to think about anything else at the moment. And then I found this thread. If I wrote this anywhere else there's a better chance of it getting back to people that know me better but have no idea what's going on. So humor me a moment.

    I can't sleep at night, because I think about death constantly these past few months. I'm tired, and angry, and feel guilty about what happened, cause I'm pretty sure it was about a choice I made. But from the outside, I don't tell people or talk about it, cause I have too much else to deal with grad school and bills. It's not possible to deal with everything, so I pretend nothing is wrong.

    My point is, suicide, attempted suicide, it doesn't just affect you. The people who care about you- and they exist, even if you don't believe it- it will hurt them, even if you never see it. I understand thinking that they'd be better off or happier with you gone, because I felt that myself for many years in my own struggles with depression. But it's just not true.

    No matter how angry someone is with you, whatever choices you make in life, failures you have- they are still better off with you around than they would be if you killed yourself. We're worth so much more than we realize to those around us, especially if we're struggling with depression. Take care of yourselves.
  • I want to hand out bear hugs to any who need it :)
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