Self-help Group Awareness Month on January, 2025: help Group Awareness Month - Self awareness is fine but how do I move on,?

January, 2025 is Self-help Group Awareness Month 2025. tumblr_molr7v5R911soxipoo1_ ... Possible Support Group

I can see how this is a tough question. You have had some professional help so you know the jargon etc.

I don't know but you give the impression that you feel you are at a 'cross-roads' all ways seem the same, except you know that going 'back' will be painful, but going back almost feels more attractive than going 'forward' into the unknown and risking even more pain?

If this is how you feel then it is perfectly normal and natural.

If you feel like you have been living in a 'cupboard' it can be very hard to open the door and when you do the light seems to bright to cope with. Then there is the realisation that you have spent time in a 'place' needlessly etc. and guilt starts to bite.

All this you can work out and it makes the thought of making progress scary, not to mention you may feel very self conscious and that people may be 'laughing' at you for being so silly and attention seeking.

Again absolutely ordinary, I can assure you that a lot of people who look like they are doing okay are just 'passing off'

in the end they are the ones who suffer longest because they don't accept help.

You have posted a big question on here which could have opened you up to a lot of sly remarks, would you have done that a month ago?

I suspect not in which case you should acknowledge just how far you have come, many of the answers are full of concern and care, so you know you are not alone.

Take heart and whether you pray or talk only to your family & freinds or use yahoo, or a combination of those and other things then you are doing the right thing.

Sometimes the solution is to realise there is not one answer and to recognise you are not responsible for finding that only 'one answer' that doesn't exist.

Do not raise the level of expectation on yourself such that you must have all the answers 'off pat' keep talking and then listen to others (as you are here) and the 'answers' will emerge.

Look for some local self help groups, the local council will know if there are any in your area. Also visit your Vicar/Priest there is usually a listening group in most parishes.

The challenges you face are not unique to you and others have faced them and beaten them before, use their experience to help you it is not a weakness to seek understanding.

is it possible be be anorexic one day and the next day you dont ?

I know you are not choosing to be anorexic. you need to know, it is no fault of your own. Anorexic is a metal illness and you seriously need help. you can't have it one day and lose it the next. thats not how it works. People die from anorexia, often slow painfull deaths. have you not seen the anti anorexic campaigns? they are SHOCKING. please admit yourself to a hospital asap or call these numbers

Edit: you can also find a 24 hour hotline, just search on google

Offline Resources

AED (Academy for Eating Disorders)

c/o Division of Adolescent Medicine, Montefiori Medical School

111 East 210 Street

Bronx, NY 10467

(718) 920-6782

An association of multidisciplinary professionals promoting effective treatment, developing prevention initiatives, advocating for the field, stimulating research, and sponsoring a semiannual national conference.

AA/BA (American Anorexia/Bulimia Association)

165 W. 46th Street # 1108

New York, NY 10036

(212) 575-6200

Offers public information, East Coast treatment referrals, support groups, and speakers, educational programs, and professional training.

Anti-Anorexia/Anti-Bulimia League

207-1168 Hamilton St.

Vancouver, BC Canada, V6B 252

(604) 688-7860

(6040 872-3311-24 hr. crisis line

EDAP (Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention)

603 Stewart Street, Suite 803

Seattle, WA 98101

(206) 382-3587

Geneen Roth and Associates

Breaking Free

P.O. Box 2852

Santa Cruz, Ca 95063

(831) 685-8601

Offers weekend workshops. Has list of nationwide self-help support groups and therapist referrals.

Healthy Weight Journal

402 South 14th Street

Hettinger, ND 58639

(701) 567-2646

Provides a national newsletter and information.

IAEDP (International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals)

123 NW 13th Street, Suite 206

Boca Raton, FL 33432

(561) 338-6494

Offers nationwide education, training, certification, and a semiannual conference for practitioners who treat people with eating disorders.

MEDA (Multi-service Eating Disorders Association)

92 Pearl

Newton, MA 02158

(617) 558-1881

Provides support in MA, treatment referrals, a newsletter, educational information, and a support line.

NAAFA (National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance)

PO Box 188620

Sacramento, CA 95188

(916) 558-6880

Provides educational information, a newsletter, and a national conference.

ANAD (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa & Associated Disorders)

Box 7

Highland Park, IL 60035

(847) 831-3438

Offers national listings of therapists and hospitals, support groups, and a crisis hot line.

The National Center for Overcoming Overeating

PO Box 1257, Old Chelsea Station

New York, NY 10113-0920

(212) 875-0442

Offers educational information and workshops in New York City, Chicago, and Massachusetts.

The National Eating Disorders Information Center

CW-134, 200 Elizabeth Street

Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4 CANADA

(416) 340-4156

Sponsors Eating Disorders Awareness Week across Canada, provides educational information.

NEDO (National Eating Disorders Organization)

6655 South Yale Avenue

Tulsa, OK 74136

(918) 481-4044

Provides information, a curriculum, a video, a national newsletter, and offers treatment referrals in the mid-west and west coast.

OA (Overeaters Anonymous)

P.O. Box 44020

Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4020

(05) 891-2664

A Nationwide 12-step, self-help fellowship offering free local meetings listed in telephone white pages under Overeaters Anonymous.

I'm having thoughts of suicide, what can I do with my life?

Listen mate, don't give up; no one dies with nothing except those that truly want nothing. You WILL get there. Trust me. I've had my own experiences, not as dramatic as yours, but tragic nonetheless. Let me tell you two stories to motivate you:

I know a priest who loves writing self-help books. The books are funny and informative. One book though, was unlike the others - the humor was lacking. In this particular book, he revealed that in his youth, he was sexually abused by his older cousin and his catholic group leader. After those incidents, he became a sex addict, preaching all the while. He knew he was a hypocrite and had confession many times, but he would always fall again. He hated his life and wanted to change it so badly, that EVERY single thing he did was meant to impress people. This is a sick attitude, but the priest didn't know it at the time. He believed he was loved so little, that he replaced that love with sex - which he could easily get. That's why he was a sex addict. One day, he cried in bed - he couldn't take it anymore. He thought his life was meaningless and didn't want to take any of it anymore. He said to God, "God, I have no right to ask for forgiveness anymore. Every time I do, I fall again. If I ask you for forgiveness now, I will feel as if I were slapping your face". So the priest just cried and cried. Just then, he felt an embrace. He couldn't describe the feeling, but it was definitely a warm embrace, as if God were telling him at that moment, "My son, I will stay here with you until you get healed". That was pure encouragement for him. The priest also read a true story about a catatonic woman who stared at the wall of her cell all day. Even the doctors gave up on her. But, one janitor decided to stare at the wall with her every day after his shift. So he did just that - many hours a day he would stare at the wall with her. After a few months of this, the woman began talking. Soon, she was completely healed. The janitor was basically saying to her, "Woman, I will stay here with you until you get healed". The priest cried after reading this tale, because it is exactly how he felt in his situation. That was all the motivation he needed, and after years of working hard to change his ways, he was healed. Now, the priest is a successful man.

Let me tell you my story: As a young boy, I knew I was blessed with great smarts and creativity, but lacked the humility to keep it to myself. Yes, I always bragged about myself. I felt I was so creative that I constantly talked to myself in school, vocally stating my ideas and quoting my favorite characters from various cartoons. I was dubbed the "weird fat kid". But back then, I was also a non-conformist, so I didn't give a damn about anything they were saying, just happy that I was blessed. But all that changed when I entered middle school. At that stage in life, there was a sense of awareness. People can either be popular on unpopular. Physical appearance itself can change how people perceive you. First impressions were almost always permanent impressions, so you had to look good in the beginning. So, obviously I was regarded as very weird and not-so-popular in 6th grade. I was becoming more aware of myself and tried to change myself so much. But I felt like I couldn't: No one could appreciate me for who I was. I hated my personality; I tried to change it. Everything I did was meant to impress people, just like the priest from the previous story. I also thought I lacked so much love that, instead of finding it in sex, I found it in having so many crushes in school and becoming a sucker for it. I did so many crazy things just for love, nearly getting me arrested one time. Two years ago, I moved to a different country, to a new school with a different society. And I wasn't even used to my last school. So yeah, I suffered in my new school too. This may just sound like typical teenage problems to you, but trust me, I was suicidal myself. But I knew that I couldn't end my life. I always knew that God is going to keep helping me every step of the way. Events always switch from bad to good in my life nowadays, and I always contain the urge to end my life by thinking positive, and it's working so far. Now, I'm still struggling with life. I was recently rejected by a special someone for such extremely unfair reasons. Right now, I'm being treated as an outsider in my school - my American accent is being ridiculed and I am treated as a "stupid, childish outsider". It is incredibly infuriating. No one can even PRETEND as if they're okay in a life like this. Even as I type this now, I feel the anger rushing through me. My life as I know it is not going the way I want it to be. But I still have hope. No matter how angry or vengeful or suicidal I get, I never give up. I always know that no matter what happens, God WILL save me. And so far, he has. We are still living for a reason. If life were truly meaningless to some, I don't see why God wouldn't