I've been doing EMDR since fall last year. I'm doing it with a therapist and on my own (I know you're not "supposed to" but it has helped a lot and I'm coping well with it).
Two years ago I was left very sudden by a man I loved and trusted. The timing was bad and the aftermaths worse. Long story short my mental health got very, very bad and even to this day I havent recovered from the breakup but slowly getting there. EMDR has been my rescue. I have huge abandonment issues. Never knew they were that severe until this happened.
My question is about the generalizing effect you sometimes get with EMDR. I've been processing the breakup and childhood neglect. I think. I don't have many specific memories about the early stuff but when I try to process what I can grab I often and almost instantly start thinking of my ex and thats what gets processed instead or at the same time. The days after I always grieve him and nothing else. Not even on those few occations that I've only (conciously) processed early stuff do I think about that the days after. Always the damned ex. And the other way around, at times when I deliberately process the ex stuff I go to very "core", old places in thought patterns and emotions.
I seem to get a lot better in the abandonment area. I've cried more than ever in my life during theese months and my chest thats been constantly heavy and sore since childhood is lighter. I'm much less triggered and my hyperviligance (or whatever it is) has gotten better. So my question is that since it seems like my mind needs to process the breakup stuff and the breakup has been so bad for me, could processing it actually have a generalized effect on all of the memories even if it's not the first abandonment?
Two years ago I was left very sudden by a man I loved and trusted. The timing was bad and the aftermaths worse. Long story short my mental health got very, very bad and even to this day I havent recovered from the breakup but slowly getting there. EMDR has been my rescue. I have huge abandonment issues. Never knew they were that severe until this happened.
My question is about the generalizing effect you sometimes get with EMDR. I've been processing the breakup and childhood neglect. I think. I don't have many specific memories about the early stuff but when I try to process what I can grab I often and almost instantly start thinking of my ex and thats what gets processed instead or at the same time. The days after I always grieve him and nothing else. Not even on those few occations that I've only (conciously) processed early stuff do I think about that the days after. Always the damned ex. And the other way around, at times when I deliberately process the ex stuff I go to very "core", old places in thought patterns and emotions.
I seem to get a lot better in the abandonment area. I've cried more than ever in my life during theese months and my chest thats been constantly heavy and sore since childhood is lighter. I'm much less triggered and my hyperviligance (or whatever it is) has gotten better. So my question is that since it seems like my mind needs to process the breakup stuff and the breakup has been so bad for me, could processing it actually have a generalized effect on all of the memories even if it's not the first abandonment?
