Depression
Did I want to drink? I honestly do not remember – at this point, I was 9.5 years sober and drinking was just not a part of my life. However, in midst of the chaos of splitting money, accounts, and furniture, getting ready for court, and trying to establish some normalcy for my kids, I did not see that my pain had reached a great level of suffering and I fell into a deep dark depression…
My self-esteem was none existent. Life became unbearable and honestly, I am so glad that I have kids to take care of because I think it would have felt even worse. Or maybe not, maybe I would have had more time to actually take care of me. Not sure. The debate is still going on with that one. But at times even that didn’t matter – I was simply just going through the motions of everyday life.
Then the day came when the kids were at his house, and for the first time ever I was completely alone in this house – all by myself, confound by the eerie quietness, and the echo of the TV bouncing off the walls. I felt empty. I hated it. I hated being alone.
Then self-doubt crept in, and that swiftly turned into a constant, brewing anger! And almost every day I asked myself “What the fuck have you done?! What the fuck!?!
“You fucked it all up.”
In my first post after the initial days of the separation called Be Still My Broken Heart, I wrote:
My insides had been transformed to absolutely nothing. Just pain. This is the end, I thought. This is really the end. And the tears just keep flowing, like a blood stream from a cut vein, and I can’t stop them. I feel ashamed as the train fills with people and I can feel their glares and stares piercing thru my soul.
But honestly, in so many ways, I do not remember this time very well. There was no one to talk to since I never told anyone about the abuse or his infidelity. I went to meetings and sat quietly in the back then mingled after as if nothing was happening.
The pain was constant, the anxiety never-ending and the depression deep and scary. I lost 30 lb in 2 months. I was pale, and my skin was drooping from the sudden weight loss. I didn’t sleep. I didn’t do much of anything. I tried to just continue my life as if nothing ever happened, you know, for the kid’s sake. But who was I fooling? They knew I knew, there was no way to hide from this.
If I knew then how difficult divorce would be I am not sure I would have filed – and this is a truly honest feeling, even though now I am really glad that I did file for a divorce and I am 100% sure that this was the right thing to do. Yet, the last 2 years have been the most difficult and heartbreaking years of my life. Even harder than the year, my mom passed away – for in that instance there was a certain end, and in this instance, the end is still the most uncertain.
The pain of losing the one you once loved, hurts, but I need to learn how to deal with the pain of divorce so I can begin to move forward and start rebuilding my life. While the pain may seem unbearable right now, I believe that it will ease with time, I am sure.
To be continued…
This is a 4 part personal story. Depression is part 2.
To read Part 1 – Divorce, click HERE.
To read Part 3 – Relapse click HERE.
To read Part 4 – Hope click HERE.
Sober Courage 