Gabriel Mizrahi

And not to put too fine a point on it, but Dr. Margolis also pointed out that all of this will probably become more doable if she has worked through her PTSD to some degree.

If not, she said the symptoms could prevent our friend here from being willing to engage more because she explained to us,

One of the symptoms of PTSD is actually avoidance, which makes a lot of sense, right?

You want to avoid external reminders or internal cues about the trauma, right?

Any kind of trigger.

So this is where her personal healing and these more practical steps are totally connected.

But she might have to go inward for a time before she feels prepared to go outward.

To my favorite podcasters, my mother is 83 and has been quote-unquote dying for 10 years.

She is relatively healthy, she is quite manipulative, and it's taken me years to understand this with the help of therapy.

The dying part has held me living next door to her and her partner, Mike, for 10 years, out of obligation, even when it wasn't what I wanted.

Mike is, from my point of view, a sanctimonious a-hole, and I feel Mike's dislike of me when I'm there, but he takes care of her well.

We just stay out of each other's way.

However, I have tremendous guilt about not spending more time with my mom.

I love her, but it's problematic.

My mother is quite wealthy.

My wonderful stepfather left her very well taken care of.

She supports me financially almost completely.

I have limited resources.

After 25 years of marriage, the state I live in only gave me three years of alimony, and I was a stay-at-home mom for all that time and have few skills.

I feel ashamed about taking her money, but I worked for years after my divorce as a teacher's aide.