[peaches100]

Is it common for people with DID to have anxiety and triggering when their t goes on a long vacation and they will miss sessions? It is a huge deal for me, but I have past childhood separation and abandonment issues, which may be why it's so hard for me.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by peaches100

Is it common for people with DID to have anxiety and triggering when their t goes on a long vacation and they will miss sessions? It is a huge deal for me, but I have past childhood separation and abandonment issues, which may be why it's so hard for me.

taking a guess here that its normal for people whether they have DID or not to have anxiety and triggers when their t goes on a long vacation...

reason I say that is because I have non DID friends who have their own treatment providers and they sometimes have a problem with when their therapists go on vacation, especially those friends that have bonded very closely with their therapists or have had the same therapist for a while.

another reason I say this is because sometimes I read the psychotherapy boards and there are lots of members who have all kinds of mental disorders or are in therapy because they needed help on issues related to their spouses, children or others with mental disorders, who have posted that they have or are having a problem with their therapists going on vacation.

directly related to me... all my alters are integrated and still sometimes I have a problem when any of my treatment providers go on vacation. many of them have given me something that I could hold or do, that when I am missing them or having any problems related to them not being readily available including vacations that help.

maybe you and your therapist can talk about this and come up with either an object or activity/ homework for you to do while they are on vacation that can help with your anxiety.

[finding_my_way]

yes. have this when mine does and when others do too. it has been worse this time because several important people are going away at the same time.

it has caused a whole lot of anxiety, upset, and other things that have been difficult to pinpoint or really deal with effectively.

[Amyjay]

I think its really common for anyone with attachment issues to struggle with T taking vacations. It helps me when I think of T being "here this week, away for the next two weeks, and then she will be here again." That way I am not focusing on the away part but the understanding that she will be back here again. It's subtle, but for me it helps a lot.

[kecanoe]

Yes, I struggle with this. Like others have said, this kind of struggling is not limited to people with DID, but I think perhaps it is worse when there are various parts with various ways of coping. I have parts who want to go to bed and hibernate, parts that want to stay busy, parts that want to lash out, parts that want to beg, parts that want to deal with it, parts that are convinced that I can't, parts that want to sever the relationship etc.

Having that internal conflict is very destabilizing for me.