Sounds like paranoia. Also not what abuse means.
this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2025
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Mental Health
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What you have described isn't being mentally abusive. I'm really sorry you're in this position. Please don't convince yourself this behaviour makes you an abusive person: it doesn't.
When your friends express that they want you to find help, it's because they care about you. They want you to come out of this and thrive.
As someone else also going through depression, your anxiety demon telling you all this is just an overreaction. When you have anxiety, your brain is always looking for threats and magnifying them. If you're thinking "dies this make me abusive?" That's usually a good sign that you have the compassion required to not be.
If you have the means to do so, I would recommend therapy. It's a good place to talk about your worries in an environment where you aren't worried about burdening friends.
Focus on things you can improve. Make small improvements, incremental change, not drastic change.
Being real, folks need to learn that it's okay to interrupt someone that's venting for an extended time.
Specifically so that you can tell them, "yo dawg, you spiraling. Time to switch shit up and move to positive and healthy conversation so you can boost your mood and get out of the funk for a while"
No bullshit, one of the worst things about depression, anxiety and related forms of mental health that lead to suicidal ideation is that it's so hard to stop spiraling on your own. But if someone outside breaks into your spiral, and drags you into a different conversation, different activities, you can get temporary relief. That temporary relief can, eventually, be key to success in achieving remission alongside treatment.
My advice? Read that to your friends that are trying to help you. Most people don't know how to help. They think that venting is something that's supposed to be listened to rather than used as a short term coping tool that needs to have a limit.
Trust your friends to take this idea and use it in a healthy way.
Maybe have a conversation with them where you come up with a code that means "we still love you, but for personal reasons we need to step away from your venting for the moment." you might feel better if you know they'll tell you when they need to leave, and they can feel like they can leave safely. Your part of the code would mean 'i will not hurt myself because you had to leave, and I also love you.'
This works for some people (an overstimulated autistic person who needs to communicate to their anxious partner they need to be alone, for instance), but not everyone, but it might be worth a shot if you can eventually internalize the idea that people can leave for a time and still care about you, and if they can deliberately put themselves first when necessary, you can trust that their care is genuine.
The 'code' can just be the actual words, but it can be useful to have a shorthand when emotions are overpowering.