Obsessive regret w/BDD issue

[eyebrows]

I am consumed with regret to the point of that I am barely functioning. I developed BDD at 46 after an eyebrow disaster. I had a very bad year but left them alone and was doing better. In a moment of insanity, I did permanent (trust me) damage to my eyebrows. This could easily have been avoided by going to an objective person to do them.  How on earth do I live with the regret of 1) This misery was easily avoidable; 2) it was volitional and self-inflicted; 3) I will always have a reminder of my insanity on my face; 4) My eyebrows are ruined forever;  I know my life could have been bacck to normmal if I had made a different decison.

I just feel like I can't live with myself for having done this.

[sweetbella]

You are not alone....I am living in a nightmare also. I had a bulging vein removed from my forehead. I regret it every single second of every single day. I have suffered a nervous breakdown from this. I can't sleep. I know how you feel! Let me know how you are doing. Best of luck.

[sweetbella]

This is going to sound really weird and crazy but this really happened to me. First off, I am a 29 year old female who had there whole life ahead of them. But about a year ago I developed a bulging vein in the middle of my forehead. I was really upset about it and thought if I had something done about it I would be happier. I went for several consultations. Dr assured me it was safe to remove. The day of the procedure a miracle happened and quickly turned into a disaster. I went in and the doctor said your vein is not bulging. I didn't believe him so he gave me a mirror. I couldn't believe it. God had healed me. So after a while the doctor said well it's really up to you. I proceeded to say well I kind of wanted to get it over with but it's not....and right when I was about to say the word showing, he cut me off in the middle of my sentence and said ,well we can do it. I sat there in shock for a second. I couldn't believe he just cut me off in the middle of my sentence. Then he turned around and pointed at the chair and yelled, sit back!! I jumped it was so loud and stern. As a young girl I did what he told me to do. Wishing now I had ran for my life. He puts this large paper napkin over my whole face. I could barely breath much less feel like I could speak. I started hyperventilating and I was having a panic attack throughout the procedure. He or the nurse never asked me if I was okay or if I was sure I wanted to do it. He gave me a shot so hard air came out of my right eye.
I have suffered a nervous breakdown from this man. I can't sleep. My family has suffered from the the emotional pain I've been in. The regret is unbearable for not standing up for myself. It's so sad what some people will do for a little money:( Now I have to live the rest of my life with a decision this doctor wouldn't let me make...Ill never get to experience the gift of healing.
I have turned this doctor in to the medical board. But that's nothing in comparison to what he did to me.

[Doubt158]

Well, this is interesting. Obsessive regret, that sounds about right. I'm only seventeen, but yet, I find tradgedy in everything, everything is a problem. In a way, I spend most of my time wishing I could go back in time, and I know this is a hopeless thought. I hate myself, I feel I have no reason to, but I do. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was four or five or something, and, as soon as I hit middle school, I was hell-bent on getting rid of it. When I got put into special ed, I felt stupid, so I dropped out. Now I want to go back to school, and I am, but I don't feel like I can live with all of that. I know it's stupid and absolutely crazy, but that is just how it is.

For a kid who wants to be a writer, being put into Special Education makes you, well, kind of want to die. And, I'm not even sure if ADHD is the right diagnosis, I feel scared, depressed, and anxious all the time. I wanted to go to Harvard, I wanted to be an amazing writer, but now that seems to be impossible, and I hate how everything seems to be futile. I hate uncertainty, and I hate my past. I'm sure that I probably need to get back on my ADHD medicine, I've been taking adderal, provided by my cousin, and it is wonderful. I even sat down, and had taken the effort to write an essay, which, I usually don't do. I just don't understand it. The thing that really kills me, I hate the fact that people can say there is something wrong with me. I just regret about everything, even simple scars on my body, or how I chose to be indolent during my childhood, rather than being percocious and, well, perfect.

[Mark TX]

1.  You are NOT insane.
2.  Many people do things to their bodies they may regret later... tattoos, for one.
3.  Put your eyebrow disaster in perspective... imagine going through life with a horribly disfigured or burned face.  Now those silly eyebrows don't seem quite so tough to live with, do they?
4.  Learn from your mistakes... but don't dwell on them.  You cannot change yesterday, but you have complete control over your actions today and tomorrow.  Trying to 'change the past' might indeed, drive you over the edge.
5.  Pick something you like about yourself and think about that.  Whenever thoughts of your eyebrows pop into your head... think of that other thing instead.  Make it a habit to immediately think of this other think.  Soon, it will become automatic.

Good luck!

mark

[oldie]

is this your ONLY regret? I am 79. my regrets are without count. Amost every word in the dictionary provoke the memory of an error I made. And I tense up physically and call out with what seems like despair.There is no room at all for anything positive that I may have accomplished. I would wiilingly erase all my previous life.  The early hours after awakening are the most dangerous. I have a heart condition and thse lamentations do me no good. But I live with it.
I take alprazolam .25 dose but that's for general stress. Wrench your thoughts away from painful incidents.
bless