Periods of despondency, melancholy, acute loneliness, a sense of our own inferiority … All this begins in a difficult situation, but can continue even when we have successfully overcome it. How can you open your way to recovery?
“At the age of 16, I was seriously ill for a long time. Now everything is over, but I have bouts of longing. Where to turn for help?
Cethegus, 18 years old
Ekaterina Mikhailova, psychologist, psychotherapist:
Even ordinary facial problems torment and hurt, and at the age of 16 you suffered a severe skin disease and long-term treatment, as a result of which the face suffered even more. Against the backdrop of this horror, you graduated from high school well, entered the institute you wanted to, worked and practiced your favorite hobby, experienced a not too joyful, but real romance with a girl. Your only complaint now is the periods of despondency, melancholy, acute loneliness and a feeling of inferiority that roll from time to time. They started along with the disease, but the situation has changed – fortunately, for the better! – and these dark periods are repeated. It seems to me that the point here, oddly enough, is in your strong-willed, collected and generally positive character. In a very difficult situation, you did not lie facing the wall, but prepared for exams, acted – and won. You are a realist and a practical person, an adult for his age and self-sufficient, but still not iron. The despair that you then had to suppress did not “burn out” completely. Those who have experienced a serious trauma may, for a while, involuntarily remember the details of what happened. Your situation lasted for more than a year and left a whole bunch of difficult experiences deep inside you. Now you need not only to recover, but also to “sculpt” your self-esteem, gain new communication skills, and just learn and live. Of course you need support. The fact that there are no psychologists in your city cannot interfere: my colleagues also work via Skype. And I firmly believe in a good result, because in the most difficult time for you, you did not allow illness to rule your life.