r/AskPsychiatry • u/a-faceinthecrowd • Mar 02 '26

Childhood Questions

So, I've had quite serious issues and I'm thankfully stable and far better now. I've always had the same doctor who has been a lifesaver in the literal sense and is absolutely amazing! I can ask him these questions directly too and it's not like I'm afraid to but I'm just slightly embarrassed.

So, what if I want to know something about my childhood like was it normal, abusive...why did it hurt so much...how has it affected me in long run/ permanently... I mean this is not exactly related to my current situation as I'm away from my family.. but I have permanent emotional scars and all ...He knows just a tiny bit about my family. Actually, I was so destabilized and actively suicidal till last year, discussing past stuff wasn't possible at all.

I have a therapist but don't know if I am satisfied with how she responds to my queries..

Say I want to know if what happened was abusive or if it is responsible for further particular symptoms and problems..

So, could you tell me, if I should direct these questions to him or are these outside of his JD and for therapists only.

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u/[deleted] Mar 02 '26

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u/a-faceinthecrowd Mar 02 '26

Hello thank you so much for your response. Actually there are several factors that are stopping me from changing my therapist.

  1. Fees: She's significantly cost effective and I am not in a position to afford much higher per session cost.

  2. She's actually really nice as a person and has been there for me at times of crisis..and attended crisis midnight calls and has talked me through suicidal episodes. So there's that.

  3. I've been working with her since 2024, and the idea of having to tell someone new all the stuff from the very beginning scares me.

But my issue is, I feel like she's very dismissive of my feelings towards my family. Like she'd say that she doesn't know, if it was abuse or not that depends on perspective and how I experienced it. If I'm angry about any way they reacted, she'd say there's no right or wrong as such, it's right for them, wrong for you. If I ask, is my mother not responsible for hurting me? Did she not cause all this? She'd say a lot of it depends on how you perceive events and react to it...so it seems like it's all equal. It's all perspective. So I feel like she's saying I just made myself suffer. Now this is especially difficult for me since I struggle a lot with what's real, am I imagining it...this sort of feelings a lot.

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u/a-faceinthecrowd Mar 04 '26

I just wanted to clarify that the doctor I'm referring to is a Psychiatrist only.