Does Containment Ever Make Things Worse?

Those of us with experience in therapy are familiar with the term "containment," which, as described on GoodTherapy.org, "allow[s] the brain to set aside distressing information for the time that it is optimal to address the material."

We can probably all agree that this is a helpful technique, one that's at time necessary for someone to remain stable while in distress. But what if containment seems to make the distress even worse? It's been said that a multiple system has a way of letting us know when we're ready to deal with something specific. What if the distress in question is the signal that it's time, and containment causes further distress by delaying attention to the matter? How does one balance out the need to process trauma with the need to remain stable?

Persosnal experiences, thoughts, feedback, ideas all welcome.

Thanks,

MDs

sounds like you are between a rock and a hard place.

for me - I had an acute experience but it wasn't containing past trauma. it was squashing my anger and rage. rewind to 2012/2013ish and I am miserable at my job. unaware of multiplicity. and yet I knew there was a very angry red haired woman trapped in a cage inside me. growing more and more restless. rattling the bars, trying to break the chains and locks.

this was a distress signal but I was so focused on maintaining my stability with my good career that I ignored it. I think my breakdown was exacerbated by my anesthesia and hysterectomy but when I lost my $#%^ --- I ######6 lost it. it took me years to recover any personal/financial stability from my nervous breakdown.

I will personally never ignore warning signals to the point I did back then.

finding that balance is hard - and personal - and I wish you the best.

Our T uses containment when she feels we are venturing into territory we are not yet ready to see by drawing us back gently into the present. Example; we say we are suddenly cold and scared and don't know why, clearly describing a fear response. Our voice becomes quiet and subdued, our body curls in on itself, we lose all eye contact... All this happens of course without us noticing but our T does which is enough for now.

That containment might make things worse hadn't occurred to us. We can imagine a scenario in which it could be, but we can also imagine it resulting in it being easier to deal with specifics in the future

It's a good, thought-provoking question. And so relatable to the overall vibe of disorganization. I'm too confused and/or triggered from my day to answer? And then I looked at your link. As containment is described on the website, the imagery of being stuffed in a box and set aside for when it's convenient doesn't resonate with me. And... I don't have a therapist. Maybe my run-trigger setting is too sensitive to even be able to benefit from therapy, and I don't like the idea of a therapist having a box for me either. Yeah I'm feeling a bit triggery for unrelated mundane stuff. I was really shaken by a toddler crying today.

Getting triggered over little stuff that never triggered me before is interfering with my job doing manual labor. I'm always scared that I'm going to get in trouble because of my alters. I hate being that crazy lady. But there was a never a time when I was healthy anyway. They always affected me unconsciously and I was always crazy whether I was aware or not. All the unconscious triggers robbed me of a full life and always caused me pain. I'm not really in control of the pace anyway and a lot of information is learned unconsciously. I can block or ignore whatever is bothering me deep inside, but I can't block Sentinel from fronting and ruminating every day. The only way out is through, but I also have inside alter(s) who control or restrict access.

Yeah, containment can sometimes make things worse. I'm certain of this based on reading so many biographies of persons with DID. There are systems who understandably keep putting off dealing with certain stuff, or decide to lock away a difficult alter. That may not work forever and sometimes it's going to make things worse. I think the challenge is addressing some of what or who is contained, as capacity for dealing with it allows but with enough focus that a contained alter accepts the pace.

We're in the midst of managing how to deal with some major, specific abuse stuff. Nine or more alters are involved. It's more automated self-containment by them though. We're trying to reduce the negative impact of that entrenched behavior that's meant to contain the abuse held by one alter without completely destabilizing us. I realize this is a little different from containing a problematic alter. I guess we're trying gradually to un-contain what's been so long contained.

We don't worry about losing it anger-wise, though given what we experienced, I'm surprised that isn't a thing for us. What came up in therapy last week was a fear of catatonia. As in the system just shuts down and we're unreachable until someone has to send us to some state hospital for the insane. This feels like an old fear and not something that would happen to us nowadays. Could we stay locked inside if our son cried out for his dad to come back? No way. But the risk of massive instability and major shutdown feels real enough.

Thank you all for validating our thoughts on the matter. We're still continuing to work through this, and we'll probably talk to our T about it this week. Even though we've recently insisted on focusing on attachment issues.

If she asks why we're diverting to this, we'll just say "I reserve the right to change my minds."

Charity and....someone with more of a sense of humor than I have, which could be just about anyone....

I don't think containment should ever be for an unspecified period of time--like "someday I'll deal with that." I could see that definitely making things worse.

MakersDozn wrote:How does one balance out the need to process trauma with the need to remain stable?

I have thoughts about "distressing information" come up all the time--whether I "set it aside" or not depends on a lot of factors. How distressing it is, what I'm doing at the moment, how emotionally strong I'm feeling right then. There is often a push by other parts to deal with something right now, and if I start to think about it and get upset in a way that isn't productive, then I can tell that part that we need to wait--that I want to know about it, but I can't handle it right then.

If the putting off is just due to fear of being destabilized, then I could see that making things worse, or at least not improving them. If one starts to process something, and finds that it's too hard to handle right then, then they can back off. It's not an all-or-nothing thing. Processing some trauma might be a little bit destabilizing. If you think of the window of tolerance, there is a range of stability, and the challenge is to remain within it, and back off if you're getting too near the edge.

I am just before therapy so I have to keep it short and didn't read all comments...
just wanted to say that there is a difference between containment and avoidance. and sometimes we might use a containment technique for the purpose of avoidance. but avoidance will get us stuck.

a key to successful trauma work is pendulation. every kind of progress costs stability. but without it we are just stable in our stuck-ness. A good T will swing back and forth between progress and stabilisation, using containment sometimes, but also pullings things out to look at them at other times.

Thank you, Gang and birdsong. Sorry we don't have much to say now.

MDs

MakersDozn wrote:If she asks why we're diverting to this, we'll just say "I reserve the right to change my minds."

Did you guys just make that up, Charity plus, because I love that.

birdsong87 wrote:a key to successful trauma work is pendulation. every kind of progress costs stability. but without it we are just stable in our stuck-ness.

Thanks for pointing out about this concept, I've been reading about it.