[Jeff the Green]

Originally Posted by AtlanteanTroll

Spoiler

I have incredibly low self esteem, and I have no reason to. Were I to assemble a description of myself going by my friends, I'd get something along the lines of "AT is a fairly attractive, funny, nice guy who has eloquent things to say when he puts his mind to it. He also drawls pretty well." How do I know this? I have a three page Word Doc of basically all written compliments I've received in the last year. I usually have to look at it at least once a week to push myself through the weekend. Issues I've mentioned in the Relationship Woes Thread aren't making things anything better.

For a while I thought I might have an inferiority complex, but having read up on it, I think that's unlikely. Part of me guesses that's still possible, but I don't want to talk to my parents about going to see a shrink, because ... Yeah. I realize shrink's do good things for people, I have two friends who desperately needed them and are doing quite a bit better now that they're getting help ... There's just something that'd make me feel like I had even less control over my life than I already do were I to make them public.

I think part of my problem was that my mom is a hypochondriac for me. When I was younger she thought I had all sorts of issues (ex: Bipolar) and now that I'm older she thinks I have Asperger's.

Okay, I'm sure I'm not the only person who will say this, but you really need some professional help. I had (have) similar problems, especially when I started college. With regards to feeling like you'd have less control than you do now, remember that when something like low self esteem, impostor syndrome, or depression is causing these sort of irrational, borderline delusional thoughts you don't have much control, and the therapist's job is to help you take the reigns back.

I'm sure other people who have gone through more similar things could advise you about talking to your parents. The only thing I can think of is to minimize it a little. Like "I'm going through a stressful period in my life right now, and I think going to a therapist/psychiatrist/psychologist would help me develop some strategies for dealing with it more productively than I have been." Depending on your circumstances, it may not even be necessary to tell them right away. It's okay for children of any age to keep some private information from their parents.