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Old May 15, 2014, 06:46 AM
Alishia88 Alishia88 is offline
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Member Since: Jun 2012
Posts: 362
Thanks, OpenEyes.

Yeah, the fake it until you make it sounds about right to me.

However, I think itīs a strange way of dealing with depression after you have lost someone.

And itīs the opposite of what I have learned with my treatment with anorexia,
in which my main focus and main thing that I learned and found important was that it was "OKAY" to feel bad sometimes and it was "OKAY" to be sad
and that it was okay to cry and that all those feelings need to be expressed and talked about, because thatīs really what people with eating disorders do, they
try to make the bad feelings go away by suppressing them by focusing on dieting etc.
I needed to be myself and when I felt very bad, I didnīt need her to shake me and demand that I put on a smile and donīt "let myself hang down",when I fake smiled, it only made me feel WORSE.

I still believe, that the way out of depression is not to overlook all the trouble and sad feelings you have, but to express your grief, so at some point you can move on, because youīre really ready, everything is processed and you have really found peace with it. Not because youīre telling yourself: must think positive thoughts.

Well, the pregnancy is only recently a topic, but the change happened before that, so that canīt be it.

Yes, Iīm thinking the same thing, that she was experimenting with boundary setting and thatīs a good thing, setting healthy boundaries.

However, Iīm not our mother. We had a good relationship. Yet, she didnīt want to see me anymore, even though she never admitted it. And it really hurt, naturally. I was always the one asking if she wanted to meet up, and often she didnīt "have time". The worst part really was, that a LOT of times, we had plans to meet up (which wasnīt often anyway) sheīd cancel in the last minute for dumb reasons. Sometimes sheīd just send me a text message 5 minutes after we were supposed to meet with not very good excuses...
I was in a very bad, weak place then myself, so naturally this made me feel not very good.

Iīm all for healthy boundaries, but I think this kind of behavior is taking it too far and is kind of stepping on MY boundaries.

Yes, you need to take care of your needs, but you cannot do that my stepping on the ones of others, in my opinion.

Looking back, I feel that this could be some sort of power thing.
I heard thatīs also a reason why people can be late all the time.
Maybe she felt like she needed to take her power back and I was very weak and vulnerable at that time and she knew I wouldnīt call on her for a behavior like that.

"You have tried to talk to her and she is resisting that, so while this is hard perhaps you should just do your best to give her some space and see what happens."

Well, yes, itīs what I did eventually. Weīre talking about something that was a while ago now.

At some point I was sick of always being the one asking her to meet up, and her either saying no, being late or canceling all the time, and when we did meet up her saying something like "ok, well, iīm home then anyway, so you can come over".

So I said, letīs just write to eachother for some time. We did that a few months.
I havenīt seen or written to her in over a year now.

I never regretted this, I made a lot of progress for myself when I decided this.

I feel that I still havenīt made total peace with it though, with the loss of her and that I need to, to really focus on my own life now, so itīs why I decided to ask for peopleīs opinions here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Open Eyes View Post
Hi Alisha,

A couple of things crossed my mind. Your sister could have been put on Effexor which can lead to a dramatic change in personality in some people. Or, it could be that her therapist might have encouraged her to "fake it until you make it" and to not allow herself to bath in sad/serious thoughts. Another thing that crossed my mind is the pregnancy could be what is changing her mood, with the vitamins and hormonal changes that take place when a woman is pregnant, some women feel great when they are pregnant.

The way you are describing her distancing, it also could be that she is experimenting with boundary setting because children of alcoholics tend to struggle with boundaries because of how the parent may have invaded their boundaries emotionally.

You have tried to talk to her and she is resisting that, so while this is hard perhaps you should just do your best to give her some space and see what happens. I know that is going to be hard on you, but it sounds like she is not going to listen to you. Who knows what her therapist worked on with her that has led to this behavior pattern. I am sorry it has been such a challenge for you and I understand your concern.

(((Hugs)))
OE
Hugs from:
Open Eyes