An Online Community for Mental Health Support

How do you celebrate Halloween in the West?👻🎃🧛🏼

Anxiety Support / by cherishedMagic7425

8 minutes ago

afternoon sunlight

Hobby Zone / by Nightfrost

11 minutes ago

My First Casual Relationship Just Ended. I am Not Taking it Well. Advise Appreciated.

Relationship Stress / by philosophicalShip8753

21 minutes ago

...See more Hi everyone. This is my first time consulting others or writing my thoughts online, but I feel completely lost and alone. It's going to be a long one, but I hope people read this and can offer me some direction or some advice. I met a girl two months ago at a farewell party for my friend. She was a friend of another friend, but I didn't end up talking to her that much. She and my friend, who was about to leave, talked a lot and seemed to grow closer. The day after, when my friend left the city, the three of us went to the beach as a last activity, and then we exchanged numbers. After that, we began seeing each other in both group activities as well as one-on-one hangouts. In fact, we started spending way too much time together, probably 15-17 hours every day. She started inching closer every day, starting to nuzzle and cuddle up against me in public. At first, I didn't think it was anything other than familiarity; also, my friend who left had told me before that she was texting him in a flirtatious way. So I was genuinely under the impression that she and I were just friends, that she liked my friend, and that she was just being friendly with me. But she slowly started love bombing me. She complimented me on little things. She began to say how the bracelet I gifted her smelled like me and how she felt like I was there with her. She wanted me there with her, etc. I was still hesitant to make any kind of move. But turns out I didn't have to. She kissed me one day and said she liked me. I was confused, firstly because I hadn't been with anyone for a long time, so I was in a daze, but also because I was under the impression she liked my friend. But she assured me that it was me she liked and proceeded to kiss me a thousand more times. Things were going very well. We were like an excited, new, and eager couple. All sorts of PDA. I started spending entire days with her, mostly sleeping at her place, waking up and going to bed together. However, one day I asked her if she was my girlfriend at this point, because we had done almost everything a couple should do and more. But she said she didn't want a relationship right now, but still wanted to be only with me. At first, I was very sad about this, but I agreed to stay with her. I was okay with this not being a forever thing, but as a short-term thing, it didn't seem that bad. I shouldn't have. After that, surprisingly, we got even closer. Things were so great. She was the first woman to actually make me feel attractive, confident, and good about myself. And I returned the favour every day by doing the things she loved. It was supposed to be casual, but we were seeing each other way too much to be so. We did all the couple things, all the romantic stuff. And she played along and reciprocated. At one point, we were living together for two weeks. We slept together, ate together, watched TV together, and went grocery shopping together. She was so impressed by my cooking and hospitality skills that she suggested we move in together long-term. Right now, after all that has passed, I don't know if she meant it. Or any of it. It all came crashing down when she went on a two-week work/vacation trip. The first week, both of us kept in touch, and I helped her by always talking to her, trying to eliminate the anxiety she was feeling over work and everything else. The second week, her vacation week, she didn't talk to me much, and she was having fun, so I didn't bother her. When she came back, she was distant. She arrived late at night and didn't have a place until the next day, so she crashed at mine. Things were strange after that. She refused to share the bed, and in the morning she turned away from my kisses. After the whole day, when she moved into her actual place, she called me over to talk. At first, she said that things were getting too serious with us, so she had to end it. But after I kept on grilling her about why now, even though she had zero problems with how things were with us before her trip. She finally revealed that she met someone else, whom she liked better than me, and imagined a possible future with him, serious or non-serious. I was devastated. I felt like all that we did and experienced was a lie. Even though things were supposed to be casual, we did so much so fast. She seemed to be so smitten with me before, always clinging to me or holding my hands. I am so lost now. I don't have any friends currently near me, but I'm trying my best to get past this. Things are over between us. She offered to be friends, but I was too hurt to even consider it. I knew things weren't meant to be forever, but I really thought she didn't want anyone else. But I should have expected this. My fault here. I have never liked anyone more than her, not even my ex. She made me feel so uplifted. I wish it were any other reason she was ending things. This one is a bit hard to digest. I loved her so much and was prepared to let her go one day, but not like this. Not so suddenly. Now I feel inadequate, unattractive, and not good enough, because being with her was genuinely the best thing ever. I know it was a short thing, but we did so much so fast that it all felt too real. Her affection towards me felt real. I am not doing well at all. Any advice is appreciated. I want to heal, but I can't seem to take the first step. Sorry for the long rant.

get to know me :)

Newbie Hub / by Damieninyourwalls

31 minutes ago

Hi

Newbie Hub / by sensitiveSail3489

31 minutes ago

Do you ever grow out of being super fragile around your mother

Family & Caregivers / by dynamicHemlock1736

34 minutes ago

The flame is now an ember

General Support / by blueHouse663

56 minutes ago

Meeting an Angel IRL

Reading & Writing / by fearlessSkies3355

57 minutes ago

...See more I was 13 years old when my parents got divorced, I wouldn't say I was upset by the divorce as much as I was upset about how my parents started treating me after the divorce. I was the oldest child, first and only daughter, and my father who raised me and now was getting a divorce with my mother was not my biological father. I say all this because it is a tiny piece of the reason for how I was feeling the day it happened. I wasn't doing very well when I was younger, mentally speaking. I had an eating disorder, and had been self harming for a few yrs. So when my parents changed after the divorce for the worst i was …tired of it all. I had decided I didn't want to be a part of any of it anymore, and had planned on unaliving myself that night when everyone was asleep. I was with my dad (stepdad) that day, we were visiting his sister, my aunt. She lived next to my old elementary school, well within walking distance. Both my aunt and my dad were chatting and speaking with my siblings doing what felt like their best to exclude me. So much so that I left the house. I didn't say anything, I simply stood up and walked out the front door walking the few blocks to the elementary school. The elementary school was closed, school was out. I'm not sure if it was summer time or if we were on break. I just knew that school wasn't happening and therefore was empty of kids. My old school had three playground areas depending on the age of kids. Kindergarten didn't get the same playset area as the third graders. I went to the older kid playground. This area had the track and field area, swings, monkeybars, and tether balls. I went through the entrance closest to the main road which was closest to the swingset area. In front of the swing set area was the track and field. The field was in a long oval shape and at the other end of the track is a single entrance/exit that leads behind the school. I went to the swings and sat down, not really swinging by swaying my body slightly around, as I thought about how I was being treated by my family. I was getting upset, not to the point of tears but still upset and really thinking about what I had planned for that night. I was probably on the swing for 15 minutes when I noticed some people coming up the track from the back entrance. I figured once they saw me they would go to one of the empty playgrounds considering there's three of um. But they didn't stop walking towards my area of playground. As they got closer i saw that it was an older man probably in his 50-60s he was with a little boy no older than six years old, and a golden retriever who the old man kept throwing a tennis ball for. I thought it odd that he would take such a young kid to the older kid area of the playground, So when they reached my area, i debated on leaving but the old man stopped me with a simple “hello” he was so cheery, his voice had shaken me to my core. Mostly because I could feel the genuine happiness in his voice and it was directed at me which I hadn't felt in a long time. I of course said my hello back and tried not to show him how much he shocked me. I looked over at the little boy who hadn't looked at me, instead focused on his action figure he was holding and softly swinging on his belly a few swings down from me. He was a quiet little boy. Which struck me as odd, I have siblings and they were never as quiet as this boy was. He didn't talk or laugh while he softly played. The old man noticed me watching the boy. He had been silently throwing the ball to the dog over and over again as I watched the kid. The old man spoke to me again, he just started talking, his voice was no longer cheery but I could still feel the love and strength in his voice as he spoke. He told me about the little boy. He told me he was his grandson, and how his parents were getting divorced and neither of them had the time for the boy anymore so he took him. He told me how unfair it was that these parents were treating the boy and how upset he was for his grandson. That it wasn't his grandson's fault that he was unwanted but that he still loved him and that's all that mattered. He said more I'm sure but as time has passed I've started forgetting what all he said. But it honestly does not matter what the old man said because it was the feelings that cascaded around me as he spoke. I started to tear up as this stranger comforted me through his child. I felt like he was speaking to and about me using the boy as some buffer. I felt loved and wanted, I was so overwhelmed when he spoke to me. Not once did he wait for me to add to his conversation, he didn't need me to have a response, he was just telling me. I sat in silence on the swing as he spoke, watching and listening to his every word. He wasn't even at the park for a total of five minutes when he simply smiled at me, took the hand of the boy and started walking away. No goodbye was said, no nice talking to you, nothing. He told me his grandson's story and simply started to leave after dropping a bomb of emotions on me. I remember feeling overwhelmed, I was shaking from the feelings he had left me with. I looked down at my knees briefly as he started walking away, not 10 steps ahead. I looked back up not a minute later and they were gone. Vanished into what felt like thin air. Old man, dog, and child had somehow disappeared on a field with only two exits. I knew they couldn't have reached the exit from which they came in across the field and that was the direction they were headed for. I wasn't worried that they disappeared, I was still dealing with my own feelings, the feeling of holding on and that eventually it will get better was fresh if not charging through me. I stood up and walked back to my aunt's house. I cried the whole walk back. And when I went back inside no one asked me where I had been or what I was doing for the hour I was gone, but it suddenly didn't matter to me. I didn't care that my family clearly didn't care about me anymore. I felt like the stranger loved me more and that's all that mattered. He was like an angel, he saved my life. I didn't try to un-alive myself that night or any night after because of him and what he made me feel. The moment he opened his mouth I felt that glow of special and I'll never forget how it made me feel. Even now as i think of it i could only compare that happy content feeling to that of heaven and the joy of angels at peace. I can't imagine a person being capable of pushing so much happiness into another person. It truly felt like I was glowing and changed by the experience. I am not sure if they were angels or ghosts or some other creature. All I know is they changed me and I'm grateful.

What things do you like to collect

Hobby Zone / by genericbeing

2 hours ago

Hey everyone im FrostiX2

Newbie Hub / by Eternal2Liberation

2 hours ago

Random question for anyone!

Hobby Zone / by Damieninyourwalls

2 hours ago

The Weekly Beacon: Small ways to help the community! (Sept 28)

General Support / by MeilleureAmie

3 hours ago

...See more Welcome to this week's Community Beacon [https://www.7cups.com/forum/generalsupport/CommunitySpace_2539/TheWeeklyBeaconSmallwaystohelpthecommunity_377289/?p=2]! For those who might be new to this initiative, The Weekly Beacon is our new tradition in which we share simple, small ways you can lend a hand in the community. The heart of 7 Cups has always been the people in it, and you do not need official badges, special training, or hours of free time to make a difference in someone else's day. 🌟 The Recognition Board 🌟 Every day you reply to these weekly threads to let us know you completed one of the tasks, you earn a star. You can earn up to 7 each week for each day of the week (1 day = 1 star). Once you earn 30 stars, you will receive the exclusive "All for one" badge! Congratulations to everyone who has earned stars for their acts of community spirit! @YourCaringConfidant - 7 > 187 ⭐ @Amanda84 - 7 > 155 ⭐ @fossilfellow - 7 > 124 ⭐ @Magicpawsoffuture - 3 > 113 ⭐ @Diinnaa - 7 > 115 ⭐ @Minimum00 - 7 > 81 ⭐ @MentalHealthMatters01 - 3 > 75 ⭐ @stormieandpaws - 1 > 61 ⭐ @AffyAvo - 7 > 53 ⭐ @ACozyBunny - 4 > 48 ⭐ @SkilledChatter - 5 > 27 ⭐ @mytwistedsoul - 4 > 26 ⭐ @Sunisshiningandsoareyou - 3 > 24 ⭐ @QuietWillow00 - 7 > 17 ⭐ @Mooniey - 1 > 11 ⭐ @Rebekah - 4 > 4 ⭐ @trueconfidant123 - 148 ⭐ @Ivy229 - 144 ⭐ @SparkyGizmo - 101 ⭐ @MeilleureAmie - 78 ⭐ @TheGeminiInMe - 62 ⭐ @sereneMango2512 - 43 ⭐ @AReineRose - 38 ⭐ @AsherTree - 35 ⭐ @Luminity125 - 17 ⭐ @cheerfulKiwi1776 - 16 ⭐ @Hermionetps - 15 ⭐ @ABoxofChocolates2 - 9 ⭐ @Joyfulflowers - 8 ⭐ @IvoryNotes - 6 ⭐ @funnyAvocado3000 - 5 ⭐ @quietPlace4271 - 4 ⭐ @Sharing3312 - 2 ⭐ @Ednamius - 1 ⭐ @wuxily - 1 ⭐ @discreetPlace4219 - 1 ⭐ @DubstepDadT - 1 ⭐ If any numbers are off, feel free to let me know! ------------------------- 💙 This Week’s Asks 💙 * Check the Newbie Hub [https://www.7cups.com/forum/welcome/TheWelcomeCommitteeTeam_2670/] for people introducing themselves [https://www.7cups.com/forum/welcome/TheWelcomeCommitteeTeam_2670/], and drop into their posts to acknowledge them * Greet someone in the Welcome thread [https://www.7cups.com/forum/welcome/WelcomeIntroductionsto7Cups_1163/Welcometo7CupsIntroduceyourselfhere_331308/] (click the >> to go to the most recent page) * Spend an hour in one of the member rooms, especially during a time of low activity. Welcome everyone who enters the chatrooms to make them feel seen. Click here to visit the Group Chats [https://www.7cups.com/connect/groupChatrooms.php]. * Visit our brand new Social Support Room (click here) [https://www.7cups.com/chat/?c=2_7cf7eb2ac0e1e704-3i7aTds2MqETdj1gSmEVA] and take the lead on some icebreakers or games! * Give out a resource to someone! Examples: the 7 Cups Basics [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M53Nm5-pbtxx2_jKfXYgYzo3NgXxjNfMwfzVSRC1rZg/edit?tab=t.0], the Listener Quick Guide [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J0P_a463RsOkBFmgE4hqMUPCyqD98MCZO_r8PAb4ERs/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.6zoipvarg5nu], or a self-help guide [https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=15546ab78aa81dea4c928fa0b099aa1c87afb408adb907c9170e26273e2102cfJmltdHM9MTc3MzI3MzYwMA&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=4&fclid=39072312-8b6a-6d87-0f74-30cc8a7e6c89&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuN2N1cHMuY29tL3NlbGYtaGVscC8&ntb=1] * Apply for a leadership role! Listeners click here [https://www.7cups.com/listener/training/leadership/]. Members, click here [https://www.7cups.com/forum/siteupdates/HsHangout_1970/7CupsMemberRolesMasterlist_318359/]! If you can do even one of these things, whether just once or for multiple days this week, please reply to this thread and let me know what you did to support our community! It can be anything, not just things on the list (even kindness tasks for yourself!). ✨ Remember: showing up to this thread each day represents 1 star, and you can earn up to 7 stars each week. So, do mention your star count for the day; it makes my job so much easier and keeps the Recognition Board shining accurately ✨ Thank you for helping bring our community closer together through everyday acts of kindness!

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