Has anyone gone through the same? How has it affected you? I really struggle with friendships and relationships. I struggle to be by myself. I am so needy and constantly expect others to parent me and look out for me. I seek protection and care and nurture. Continuously, particularly from my parents. I always feel like a failure or a burden. Always feel like I am abnormal. Why can’t I just be like everyone else?

Edit: I just had a private message from someone telling me I do not have CPTSD. That I am just attention-seeking. That I have not gone through a series of damaging events. I just wanted to say, despite of what I myself have gone through (which has included domestic violence to which I was subject), having emotionally unavailable parents who disappoint you and fail to fulfill your needs or to see you and be there for you, over and over and over and over again, can truly affect you. It might not affect some, but it can affect other people’s lives profoundly. Alas this is the thing about trauma. Two people can go through the same thing and only one of them can develop PTSD from it. Don’t let anyone judge you or undermine you or belittle you like you may have been during your childhood. Don’t let anyone make a judgment of you, since they don’t know the whole story.