@tyme Thank you for your kind words.  I had a very similar experience for the first time I ever reached out and felt I could be honest with another person about how I felt and the issues I had always experienced.  It was very helpful to me in finding the confidence to make some positive changes in my life.  It was about 14 years ago and I find myself coming back to online forums hoping to get some of that success it brought me back then.  

Apart from the safety the anonymity of forums like this bring, I just find it easier to communicate via text.  I just have time to compose my thoughts and edit it if necessary until it feels "right".  When im happy with it i can send it.  Face to face, I can be a bit like a deer in the headlights.  I hesitate as I think and then the silence feels like it was awkwardly long so I end up saying nothing.  So ive never felt confident talking face to face with anyone.  So I guess online forums like this has always given me both the confidence AND the feeling of safety to open up and be honest with people.

I tried it with a couple of psychologists over the past year but felt either unheard or dismissed.  So thats when I came here... back to the familiar safehaven of online forums.  Now if I can just learn to keep my replies to under a small novel! :face_with_rolling_eyes: