#1
He was in pain all the time, ancient, blind, deaf, walking hurt, he'd bump in to walls and he'd fall over. He'd potty every where because he couldn't remember where his boxes were. He cried almost all the time and I got to the point I was crying for him. Almost as much as he was. The wouldn't let him go, they said he was fine, and he wasn't. I said I'd pay for the vet, they said he'd die when his time came.
His time came when I took him to the vet, had him go to sleep, took him back home, and gently placed him in his bed.
They thought he died in his sleep.
I've felt guilty for years, but I'd still do it again.
#2
The next morning as I left for work, there was a flock of Mourning Doves in the tree in my yard. There had to be forty birds, and then they all flew away at once.
Who would believe it?
#3
A few weeks ago, in the AskReddit community, the user u/nurse_raexo asked netizens: "What’s something you never told anyone because you’re not sure they’d understand?" which resulted in a, although not so viral, still completely touching and sincere thread.
While putting together this collection, I had a hard time holding back tears several times - just imagining the feelings of people sharing their most intimate thoughts. So I do hope you will also find this list of stories and revelations selected for you by Bored Panda interesting, and sometimes even eye-opening.
#4
Edit: just listen to Saddle Tramp by Marty Robbins and you’ll know how I feel.
#5
#6
Why do people try to speak out in an online thread, and not to friends, relatives or a psychoanalyst? It's very simple - any person who knows you will, one way or another, perceive the story you tell under the angle of their own knowledge, and not just the way you told it. A psychoanalyst will most likely offer an attempt to solve the problem - and we often just need to be listened to.
Well, not just listened to, but from the point of view that we want to convey - even if this point is actually irrational and illogical, strange and stupid. But these are our feelings, what we feel, and what hurts us. That's why netizens, hidden behind faceless userpics, can be great listeners.
#7
#8
#9
Of course, netizens can start labeling you without any reason, but if you give a general enough description of your pain, your problem, then most likely you will get some sympathy. Just sympathy, not solutions - and you probably don't need them in this situation.
"If you're the one listening, you're not expected to have a solution ready," Professor Ewan Gillon, the Clinical Director of First Psychology Scotland at First Psychology Centre, Edinburgh, writes in his article on Press and Journal. "You may have ideas, but first and foremost, it's about being there to listen. <...> In any case, it is about understanding what is happening to our minds and learning to deal with that."
#10
#11
And it’s too much effort to explain only to be met with empty platitudes.
#12
It's hard to explain to someone who doesn't have it because for nearly everyone, eating is a basic thing you barely think about, like breathing.
With binge eating disorder, I'll get hit with a trigger - like a craving for a specific food, but times a billion. I can ignore it, but it doesn't go away. It stays in my brain and gets louder and louder over hours or days, until it's the only thing I can think about. Until it's so distracting it's hard to even have a conversation. Until it's to the point of "well, I better order that whatever it is, or I literally won't be able to function at work today."
And it's hell, because we are bombarded with food ads constantly, it's everywhere when you go out, it's part of nearly every social gathering, and oh yeah, you also have to eat multiple times a day to stay alive. Imagine being an alcoholic and knowing you need to quit, but you also need to do a shot three times a day or die.
And no matter how carefully you explain it, or when I explain that I've had times in my life where I lost 100+ pounds and gained it back because of the binge eating disorder, or explain that I'm finally able to manage it because a doctor finally listened to me and got me on the correct prescription medication and therapy (and now that I'm properly medicated I still get cravings, but they're so much milder it's comical, it's like the difference between "I'm literally on fire" and "I smell smoke in the far distance"), there will still be some d*****s in the comments every time that says "That's not real, just eat less you fat monster."
Eventually you just accept that some people are incapable of empathy and understanding and try to ignore it.
"There are moments in our lives when a person just needs to talk it out, to tell about something that's been bothering them, sometimes just to some random stranger," says Irina Matveeva, a psychologist and certified NLP specialist, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment here. "To ease the burden that may lie on our souls."
"For many centuries, confession played this role in Christian society - after all, there a person, also on the condition of anonymity, tried to lift a, sometimes quite heavy, stone from their soul. In modern society, the church no longer plays the same role as before - but the demand for this remains."
"So many people try to satisfy this need, either by talking to strangers in a bar, or by sharing their problems on various online resources. By the way, now, with the advent of AI, many people try to pour out their souls to chatbots too. Just to be listened to. And you know what - sometimes it really helps."
#13
Don’t eat that. Don’t order that people will see and judge. Try to be a small as possible. Don’t take up too much room. Angle yourself better. Can you feel your ribs today. Is your collarbone showing more today. It goes on and on.
The s**t thing is I am fat. My whole family is big. I’m tall and big and feel like a hulk.
Edit- I’m doing all I can to lose weight. 10kgs down in 3 months so please don’t give me unsolicited weight loss advice. I’ve heard it all.
#14
#15
In any case, we suggest that you read all the stories provided here to the very end - because they are really worth reading. And if you also have something to share with other people, then feel free to join the comments under this post. If it makes you feel better - well, it means that everything here was not in vain.
#16
#17
It breaks my heart I will never meet my great granddaughter.
#18
#19
#20
