Well girls, after the episode with Mum going into hospital with heart problems, i decided not to tell her until she is better so i told my brother about me instead.
My family know that i have been having some depression issues and i asked my brother to come over for a chat and to play some computers.
After we got the gaming out of the way (yes we are geeks) he asked me what was up, i told him i don't think i was born in the right body. Long story short, he wants me to see a 2nd shrink for a 2nd opinion and for me to get out a bit more (like a sport or yoga etc)
If i do these things and 'still' (lol) want to go down the path he is happy to support me.

So i'm a happy girl right now. At least i know for sure i will have a family member on my side

Hugs
Simone

HI Simone.
That is great news about your brother. Also. hope your mother gets better soon.

Hugz,
Michelle Lynn

Thanks Michelle, yes great news about my brother. i wasn't sure how he would take it but after I told him and i got his reaction, i had the best nights sleep i have had in a long time

Mum is on the mend but they don't know what caused her heart to go into overdrive. The docs have slowed it back down and she is home but we have no idea what caused it.
At least she took it as a hint, and has decided to lose weight.

i'll wait till the right time to tell her now
thanks for thr support
Simone

way to go girl .........i am glad you got a good reaction and things are getting better with your mom.
take care
Sara

Lucy....good point about the reaction to "shrinks." Unfortunately, your impression of going to a shrink in the US isn't quite right....speaking from experience....my brother thinks you have to be committed to an institution before you go to a shrink....they cost $135.00 per hour and up...and thirdly, as far as I can tell, their solution is to prescribe pills.
I guess everyone has their own opinion about shrinks.
Back to Simone...I hope you Mom gets well. As for the second opinion go for it....is your brother paying for it?
Remember we don't have government health care here.

Hi Sara, Lucy and Mary , thank you for your replies.

Lucy u may be right, it maybe because he couldn't deal with it himself, but more people are starting to accept that shrinks ain't so bad, except the cost!!
At least even if he can't deal with it right now he said he would support me.

Mary,
he probably could afford to pay for me lol, but no, he is not but thats ok cause we do get cash back from the government at least for the next few years, until the baby boomers retire.
Thank you both for the best wishes for my mother.

Sorry i missed u Sara, thank you for your reply as well. I must have missed it somehow i do apologize.

Hugs
Simone

Hi Simone. First of all best wishes to your mother for a speedy recovery. I’m glad that your brother seems to have taken it well. I wonder if the shrink suggestion is a hint that he is somehow out of his depth with this. The reason I say that is because that was one of the suggestions my dad made when I first told him, and all his life he has ridiculed the idea of seeing a shrink, and their profession in general. His suggestion made me think that he probably thought I was just going a bit loopy, and really didn’t know what else to suggest. I’m not saying your brother thinks this of course. Shrinks seem to be viewed quite differently from country to country; don’t know how it is in Australia but here we are led to believe that in the States if you are having a bad day - you go see your shrink, spilt some milk – go see your shrink, someone ignored you in the chatroom (ooh topical…) – go see your shrink. You get the picture. We are led to believe that everyone has therapy in the states, while here, it’s only loonies that need it, or people on the verge of breakdown. Suffice to say that my dad must have thought this was pretty serious and basically had no understanding of it all to suggest me going to a shrink. I’m not trying to make comparisons between my dad and your brother though, just maybe he doesn’t know what else to suggest.
The main thing is though that he has said he will support you, and it will be emotionally important for you to get family members on your side, and also so they can help each other to come to terms with it.
As for my dad by the way, well I’m now undergoing NHS “assessment”, I’ve seen 3 shrinks so far (their requirement, not mine), none of them has said that I’m nuts or depressed or having mid-life crisis type breakdown. I have a letter saying I am TS and apparently happy in my role (for my passport application, which is in the post), my doctor is prescribing me hormones… My dad is no closer to coming to terms with it all. The shrinks proved him wrong, never a good thing to do to a bloke, and anyway, what do shrinks know, “ridiculous profession , bunch of quacks…”
Conviction, determination and patience are all you need, well maybe not quite all, but if you have those, you’ll get there. Good luck, Simone.
xx