Medication based breakup

Cheshire Kat

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Jul 10, 2005
Messages
224
Location
Arizona
So I'm not sure exactly why I'm posting this... I don't know if I have a specific question I want answered as much as general advice or sympathy. I'm just in a spot where I'm quite alone and don't have any friends to talk to, so I figured I might as well reach out here. Apologies for the lengthiness.

I'm currently living in Prague, where I moved exactly a year ago. One week after living here, I met a girl and we fell pretty hard pretty fast, and have been living together for the past 10 months. However, she has some serious issues with Borderline Personality Disorder that both made her terribly unhappy and caused some friction in the relationship. (Having been diagnosed bipolar, but with more of a depressive tendency, I'm rather sympathetic and attracted to other crazy folks). We spent some time working on her BPD together, using a "skills training manual" and doing a variety of techniques, but it apparently wasn't working well because she starting cutting (something she has a history of). One night in mid april, she cut so deep in her arm there was blood all over the place and she had to make a tourniquate to stop the bleeding.

At this time it was decided that she out to go back home to her home country (12 hours by train) to check into a mental hospital for a little while, and to get some professional therapy. Due to her cutting in the hospital again, she ended up staying in the hospital a full month, during which time I visited her. She got out, came to visit me, was a bit "off" as is to be expected from such an experience, and then went back home for her therapy. Since she had to have therapy there, and not in Prague, it was decided she'd live there for at least the next several months. I made plans to move back with her to her home country after finishing up our lease on our apartment, and finished up my job. We originally had planed to move to a diffrent country together before her hospital visit and the cutting, but now we were both just going to chill in her home till she recovered psychologically.

Well, in the month after she got out of the hospital and I was still in Prague, there were some Skype fights and arguements about various things, and eventually it came out in the course of those that she can't really be with me while on the meds, she didn't want me to come live with her after all. Both because she needs to work on herself, and a relationship is just an emotional overload (which makes total sense to me, and I agree with her on that point), and more disturbingly because she no longer has feelings for me due to the medication. They kind of make her, in her own words "i feel void of emotion, like a psychopath, a lot, incapable of empathy". Which means she can't really feel the love towards me anymore. So the alternative is to stop taking the meds, without which she has some seriously suicidal tendencies than have come close to sucess, but with them, she's dead to me emotionally. Both her and I clearly prefer the former, but its heart-wrenching to lose someone I care so much about for such a reason.

She's not even really sad about this break up, because she's so numb. She's started moving on with her life as though nothing really happened... because she can't feel the significance of this. So it feels to me almost like she, the person I loved, didn't so much break up with me as die. She left for a month to go get healthier in a hospital... and never returned. I can't even talk to her about how difficult this is for me, because she's not emotionally capable. Its very difficult for me to "get over" this breakup emotionally, because it ended in such a sudden, unexpected, and... unusual way. At this same very time as all this, the few friends I have here (GF and I pretty much dominated each other's time with only a few outside friends) all left to go to different place, leaving me completely alone in this grieving and mourning process. Additionally, I now must hastily make a life decision about where to move next (already quit my job here and can't get another, long story), so I need to try and make major life plans for myself. All of this has of course triggered a massive amount of depression and despondency in me, and I'm not sure I feel up to tasks that I need to do. The past few days I've just been laying in bed, barely sleepwalking my way though my job, living like a hermit with beer and valium. I know that obviously needs to stop, but it feels like my entire life just got stolen away from me, I got abandoned with no warning whatsoever, in the past 2 weeks. I'm not really sure where to go from here; I lack the motivation to do the things that I know I need to be doing. I want to start over with my life, make new friends in a new city with a new job... but I am having trouble letting do and getting excited about any of it.
 
Dude im really sorry to hear what happened to you. Ive had a relationship or two that still weighs on my mind sometimws so in that small regard i can completely understand that part of it though the specifics differ frok my circumstances

Perhaps youre better off without the crazy girl though.. if its that easy for someoje else to let it go she wasnt worth your time to begin with. You deserve someone who cares for you as equally as you do them

Stay strong man
 
Heavy shit, I sympathize with you.

Time will fix it though, too bad you have to make decisions while under pressure:/
 
Thanks guys, a little kind words even from strangers goes a long way. I think it also helped just to get it all out and in words. Still don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm glad I posted here.
 
I'm going through a similar thing I guess. She's always had depression but since she's been out of work for 1.5 years it's getting so much worse. Our addiction to heroin seems to allow moments where it is how I know it can be. During the day she tells me the fights not worth it that all this is pointless and how she's killing me because she cant feel. At night we use and she apologizes tells me she really does love me and that ssri have destroyed her sex drive and her emotions.

I know the girl I love is in there. When she yells at me over stupid shit I never said she doesn't mean it. She can't understand how I can put up with it all the time, it's simple I love her. Even if it seems like all this is meaningless I know it's not life has just begun for us and someday she will see it. I won't let her tell me she can't see me because of how she acts when bubbles of her true self come out when we are high and sometimes when we are not.

I too have cleaned up alot of blood and dressed alot of wounds because she's got suicidal tendencys.

I know what you went through, I'm sorry it ended like that. I'm more worried ill find the girl I love dead and all my fighting will be in vein.

If I thought leaving her would make her happy I would. We have isolated ourselves with heroin and I can't let that be all we have.

You are not alone my friend. You had a past before her and you will have a future after. You didn't do anything wrong trying to save her.
 
I'm really sorry to hear about what you are going through, Cheshire Kat. It sounds incredibly difficult.

My previous boyfriend had schizophrenia, and for the latter 6 months of our relationship was quite distant emotionally, especially when he was started om antipsychotics. He too said he felt "numb" and lacking in any feelings, and it was a really tough time. Similarly to your girlfriend we both knew he needed the medication, so stopping it wasn't an option, and I too felt like my partner had been stolen from me at times. He did start to improve in that sense (as well as getting much better in terms of his schizophrenia) which was amazing, but he sadly passed away last August so I also know what it feels like to suddenly be on your own, without the person who was your whole life, and to go through a grieving process (I entirely understand why you equate your current feelings to a bereavement btw).

I feel like I want to give you hope. I know things seem impossibly bleak at the moment, but they will improve. It's coming up to a year since Dave died, and I can hardly recognise the person I was when I was in the depths of it all. Things are still tough, I still miss him hugely and it still hurts, but I've started being able to enjoy life again, I've moved forward in many ways and I just feel like I have my life back. I'm enjoying socialising, am seeing a new man and am about to get back to work properly. I can look back and be happy and grateful for the time we had together and appreciate how it has shaped the person I am now. For a very long time I thought this would be impossible, but it isn't and I am confident that you too will find that you emerge the other side of this.

It's so scary having to do things (like make big life-decisions) on your own when you are used to having a partner there - that was one of the hardest things I found, having to cope with the worst thing ever without the one person who I wanted by my side. Dave and I spent all our time together too, so there was the biggest hole left after he had gone.. I've never been a "strong" person or v good at coping on my own, so I really didn't think I can do it. However, I found that one step at a time (with setbacks, definitely, but also an ability to eventually pick myself up again) I could do it. Humans are incredibly resilient, far more so than we believe ourselves to be, despite our hatred for change. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how you manage to get through this. It's unfortunate you have to make a decision about where to move to right now; it's not easy thinking clearly at a time like this, but if you have to then you can definitely do it. I would say do try to get advice or at least talk it through with as many people as possible, as your perspective may not be crystal clear currently. Support is vital at the moment, be it from friends/family, TDS or internet friends or even your doctor - don't try to do this entirely alone <3

It's normal to turn to drugs at a time like this; I certainly did. Ultimately though it is destricutive and impairs your ability to move forwards. It took my a long time to see this, but there really is no way to prop yourself up and get through this on drugs - at some point you need to confront reality sober and it really is better sooner rather than later, if you can. Maybe allow yourself a set amount of time to wallow, then force yourself to do a few days sober and see how you go? I found that my self esteem and self-worth shot up once I started treating myself better (ie not getting wasted all the time) and it really helped me to pull myself out of the hole. Do you have anyone who can help you with this? Things like forcing myself to eat properly, exercise, rest, treating myself (watching a fave film, bubble baths etc) and trying to make my home environment pleasant really helped too, even when I felt like I really didn't care about it at the time.

I wish there was a quick solution to this, but I'm sure you know there isn't - but it really is possible to not just get through a horrible time but to get to a stage where you are genuinely happy again. Small steps, get as much support as you can, understand you may stumble but have faith that you can pick yourself up again. I really hope things start to improve for you soon <3
 
My ex wife is schizo-effectice/bi-polar, and my recent ex of 6 yrs is bi-polar. It's difficult to be in relationships with mentally ill people. I feel for you. I'm still getting over my break up and it's been almost a year.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, especially szuko and effie, it really is helping me clear things up in my head. I've reached out to a couple people in the past couple days, and just that little degree of human interaction and just honesty with others has done wonders for my outlook. Which is still kinda dark, but its getting little bit better. I've made my difficult life decision (moving to Turkey!) and I'm living day by day right now to address my efforts to the practical necessities of that decision.
 
This sounds a lot like a death as well as a breakup too. That is so harsh, especially when she is right in front of you. That would rip my heart out. I am so sorry this happened to you. It is almost like you love her and when shes not on the meds she can feel the love too. I am glad you are okay and able to move on with your plans. Even though it must really hurt like hell. We are all here for you though. <3
PM me if you need to vent.
 
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