Monday, September 6, 2010

Attachment / Relationship Addiction


One of the many issues I struggle with is abandonment which has lead to attachment disorders and relationship addiction.

I have found a pattern in my relationships. My relationship addiction does not come in the form of romantic relationships. I can string together my life by the people I "attach" to. I seem to hop from one mother-replacement figure to another. I've known this about myself for several years now but can't seem to change the behavior. I HATE THIS ABOUT MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!!

I have spent much of the day angry at myself, no LIVID at myself because I have identified my next "mother / mentor figure." It's really very much out of my control. I don't seem to understand what I'm doing until it's done and my next "victim" is all I can think about. I feel like a vampire, sucking the life out of the people who are nice to me.

I want to stop doing this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These aren't people that I have any real relationship with though... well, sometimes it is but that's only when I've done enough to get them to "take care of me." It's very codependent and manipulative and I CAN'T STAND IT! The realization that I have done it again has really got me depressed. I just want to die! I shouldn't be allowed to be around people. I want to kill myself. The world would be a better place without me. I feel so sorry for the people I put in this position. It's not fair to them.

I seem to attach to very similar people each time, too. One of the first people I remember was a Christian camp counselor. I had this intense conversation with her then kept calling her after the camp to try and hang out.... She was probably in her late 20's and I was only in 6th grade. The other women have been people like dance teachers, school teachers, my old sponsor, a couple therapists... the list goes on. It's pathetic, shameful and excruciating. These woman usually (but not always) have the same kind of characteristics. They are generally older than me, pretty, average size, smart, nurturing, helpful and many times have dark, curly hair. What does this all mean? Most importantly, how do I stop doing this?

The general pattern looks something like this:
-I'm sad or lonely and start a new program of some kind
-I find a woman who is kind enough to listen to my problems
-This woman is helpful and caring
-I want to be around her all the time
-I start thinking about her much of the day: harmless things like, what I want to tell her about a particular incident or wondering what she would think about something
-I start crossing into calling her or e-mailing her more than I know a normal relationship would at this particular point
-I start to read too much into her responses and feel hurt when she doesn't get back to me soon enough or give me the attention I want
-My expectations for her become far greater than any one person can take on
-This period may last as short as a couple weeks to as long as a couple years until eventually I am let down enough times that I get so angry that I end it or she realizes that I have become a "leach" and leaves me

This cycle is self perpetuating as it continues to create the strong sense of abandonment and loneliness thus spurring me toward someone else to "fill me up."

Lord, please make it stop!

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