this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2026
655 points (98.5% liked)
me_irl
7389 readers
339 users here now
All posts need to have the same title: me_irl it is allowed to use an emoji instead of the underscore _
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I don't know if i can actually connect with people who have the same issues I have, although i know me and the other person would have to be locked in the same room so we can keep in touch - two people who don't call each other might get along, but it's not really a relationship isn't it lol
I also have two younger siblings, but our mother slowly got her act together over the years, so i took the brunt of the instability at home - i might have acted as a stabilizing factor for my siblings too, at least i hope i did. I know they both do a lot better than I do.
The culty stuff reads awful; weirdly enough i stumbled across this piece where lots of US troops got told by their superiors the war against Iran is so that Jesus can return (and they have the sick idea Trump is anointed) - this sounds very much like the same thing, or at least very adjacent.
I have the luck to live in central Europe, with a useful social safety net - i was declared unfit for work after i had a nervous breakdown because i couldn't withstand the stress of regular work. it's actually the way i get a little apartment for me if all works out... 36m² isn't large, but enough for me and my 2 cats, and i can afford it with my little pension. I just wanted to write that i do not know what would have happened if i lived in the US, but that's not true: reality is that i would be a crazy homeless person or dead.
It's good to read you have such a stable relationship and hope you are happy in it. Wish you all the best!
Yeah, US politics has been hugely distressing for me, it's such a direct continuation of my childhood trauma sometimes, with added new threats to worry about.
It also helps to recognize the areas of my life where I did get lucky breaks. My belief in the cult broke when I was 19, and I was so convinced my stepdad would literally murder me that I ran away from home and started couch surfing with strangers I met on the internet. I knew it might be human trafficking, I knew that these people could rape me and dump my body in a ditch, but between this rock and that hard place, there was a small glimmer of hope.
I got lucky. They helped me establish my residency in a new state, going so far as to notarize an affidavit that I was living at their address, so I could get a state ID and start looking for work. I was able to find a job, and get a cheap dorm-style apartment with shared bathrooms and kitchen/commons, find love.
Then the bottom fell out of the market in the '08 crash.
I got so very lucky.