Exhaustion from developments in DID

Have you experienced exhaustion as a result of finding new alters, dealing with memories and flashbacks, willingly or not? NicS, who has DID lives with me as my de facto kid(s), quickly becomes tired when they discover a new alter or new information. The exhaustion seems relative to the number of new alters or the amount of new information.

A year and a half ago we took a trip to my home town where I spent two weeks sifting through my family home before it was sold. With lots of free time, a relaxed atmosphere and no immediate obligations for him (apparently what allowed this development), his system size doubled within a couple days as he met 8 previously unknown alters. During much of this time he was simply wiped out, sleeping most of the day, almost as if he had the flu. Recently many more have joined them and they get exhausted quickly and sleep a lot.

When I first began welcoming my new alters a couple years ago I had to take several naps each day yet was still able to fall asleep at night. I'm taking a day off from work each week now for an extended period to allow for all the extra processing I'm doing in intensive therapy with EMDR.

Nic, TK and company feel lazy or useless sometimes but I contend that they are working and it's challenging work. It seems to me that actively healing from DID can be a full-time job in itself, depending on the pace you're moving. Coping with DID may be the equivalent of a full-time job too in terms of energy required.

Is this type of fatigue normal for others here? Does it increase when you find one or more alters or process new "stuff"?

I feel exhausted pretty much most of the time. I think for me it's not just when we find out about hidden stuff that causes the exhaustion, but the unconscious battle between our different viewpoints on life and healing. So a lot of the time we'll feel exhausted just by trying to think about what types of stuff are holding us back from getting better and other topics that contain different points of view...

I don't think exhaustion is unusual. I remember creating a topic about it here some time a long time ago and it seemed like lots of people related then too. Both my last and current therapists have thought the exhaustion will get resolved as things are gradually released and processed and we can come to some more coherent sense of togetherness on stuff...

Johnny-Jack wrote:Nic, TK and company feel lazy or useless sometimes but I contend that they are working and it's challenging work.

I really like that you said this. We always feel like we are not useful also and so it helped me feel a bit better. You are right, we still are doing work. I suppose that just because it's not the type of work "normal" people do, doesn't make it any less valid as still being hard work...

Hi

My husband and therapist call be a sleep queen. Ive never understood how I could take naps and sleep fine at night? Caffeine doesn't affect me either. Drink coffee before bed and then sleep normal. I think I process heavily while sleeping in a way that I cannot do while awake so yes I can relate. For me, system activity relates to amount of sleep needed.
Good to see you here.

xoxo

We are coinstantly tired, dizzy, yet have difficulties in sleeping. I guess its processing as that came forward in journalling, processing and trauma's coming to the surface, which makes somewhat sense to me/us.
Coffee and other stimulants are not felt or barely felt. My guess is dissociation, atleast, that is what pops up every time, not sure if it actually worsens our dissociation tho.
lately i have an problem with sleep, guess it has to do with current xmas season and other things this time a year. But were mostly so tired, feeling useless aswell, while there is much process going on, including co-con and co-presence being more clearly lately. We still feel useless tho because we have no job and cant hold one currently. Our progress is easily lost out of our eye so to say, while lots of very hard work is done. It often feels as if we have lived multiple lives already, no pun intended.

Guess for us it is a yes, when stuff is processed and new alters surface/come to awareness that the norm is shaken so to say, their feelings felt while before somewhat unaware.
When the kids are around there is an huge increae of energy, yet leaving me/us eventually disorientated and very exhausted. Switching takes also lots of energy depending on who switches, some are very light yep...( no color chosen yet btw, so dont stick to this. ~?? )



Yep, several.

Yes, it's definitely normal. For us, we just thought it was menopause, but that was a coincidence. Being multiple is exhausting.

Depression + anxiety + CPTSD + system needs + individual insiders' needs + therapy process + menopause + job suckage + sorting out father's estate + adult brother with special needs = exhaustion, MakersDozn style

I don't have many developments going on (read: none), but this could explain why I can sleep so much, yet be quite tired.

MakersDozn wrote:Yes, it's definitely normal. For us, we just thought it was menopause, but that was a coincidence. Being multiple is exhausting.

Depression + anxiety + CPTSD + system needs + individual insiders' needs + therapy process + menopause + job suckage + sorting out father's estate + adult brother with special needs = exhaustion, MakersDozn style

Wow, so much going on you guys. Any way we can help?

Sea

Boy can we relate to this! Lots of mental work has always been physically exhausting. On the other hand we deal with a lot of insomnia due to ptsd issues. Nothing like being exhausted and totally unable (sometimes unwilling) to sleep. If I'm doing a lot of work in therapy or been having lots of flashbacks/memories I can sleep 16+ hours in a day. Then I'm really hard on myself for being lazy and useless. I've internalized so many of those messages about invisible illnesses that I'm just as bad to myself as an outsider would be. Working on that is also kind of exhausting. *sigh*

A big part of it for me is that every thought, every action, every memory is getting scrutinized and that takes a lot of energy no matter what way I look at it. I'm really trying to learn to be kind to myself and just accept that sometimes we need to sleep a lot. A friend once told me not to worry about sleeping because sleeping is healing.

Seangel wrote:Wow, so much going on you guys. Any way we can help?

Sea

Actually, even asking is a big help. Most outside people are so caught up in their own lives that they don't notice people who suffer quietly.

A co-worker returned to the office today after (several weeks?) absence recovering from an accident. Even though it goes against the grain of our pricklier insiders to do so, we made a point of stopping by her desk to let her know that we were glad that she was back and feeling better.

We wish that more people were like you, Sea, and would go out of their way to show genuine support. If they were, maybe we wouldn't be so devoid of hope.

MDs

MDs,

I know what you mean. Sometimes, someone caring, being there for us, asking how we are doing, can be so healing. It's like we matter to someone else, we are not invisible, we are cared by other, even if it is just one other.

It's pretty cool what you did for your co-worker. It shows how caring and sensitive you guys are. :3 <3.

I remember I read in a book of DID, that it was her DID, in the case of a patient, that had kept her ability to love and be kind intact, in spite of all that she had gone through. I found that marvelous and touching. Her compartmentalization kept her ability to be kind and show love to others. So beautiful.

MakersDozn wrote:We wish that more people were like you, Sea, and would go out of their way to show genuine support. If they were, maybe we wouldn't be so devoid of hope.

Thank you for your words, they are so kind. I wish you wouldn't be devoid of hope. :/

Sending warm, supportive vibes for all that's going on with you guys.

Sea