hi all,
I had all the same thoughts (I still do but stop the ox cart most times) concerning my self image. I was taught by my bipolar father that I was as mentally retarded as my mother (a true mental deficiency) and as I did bad thing these progessed my state... So of course by the time I was a teen I was messed up! I even inherited my father's disorder (bipolar) and a bunch of other anxiety tag-alongs...
To protect myself in the past, I had to shut down. I had several major depressions and pushed everyone away. The last one, I could not stand to have people around; their emotions were too much to handle. To tell the truth anything with an emotional conotation was too much sometimes; TV, Music, magasines... I became agrophobic. I got to the point I could not leave the house... I could barely face my husband and young children. But I leaned a lot and got a proper diagnosis, medications, & help.
I had to learn that my ox cart is as it is. It is not Usher's Porsha. If you see me on the street, I will not be mistaken for Jesica Alba. I might be someone's large eastern european aunt, that's all. My kids love me. Today my husband kissed me good-bye and hoped I had a good-day.
If tomorrow will start a depressive episode I will shuve the ox cart to psy-doc office and stop what-ever thoughts I can... I will not return to my teenage room and listen to all the bull-manure my father shuveled. I am 38 yrs old and have a garden that is furtile enough now...
I have had months and months of nice days and a few nights of tears. It seems to be hormornal-cyclical now. So the psy-doc has no solution but to leave me to my own devices and the psychologist. I change the worst of the ideas with various meditations... and hope the meds do the rest.
oups got to get back to work, lunch is over.