Hi,
Thanks, Gap. Some of the issues are that
Disneyland has always been a day trip thing, because I had passes growing up, living so close. This time it's more complicated, by staying two weeks, traveling back and forth to the resorts and all that entails, and the constant stimulation, such as the constant noise level, which can very much replicate the noise at times, in my head. Also, my husband will be along, who we need to be there, but sometimes causes a great deal more stress due to his own coping and having a difficult personality disorder. That aside, my disorders evolve greatly from moment to moment but also over the long term as well. In some ways they feel worse than ever, but it's really because I'm working on things in therapy and protective coping mechanisms kick higher and higher into gear to avoid the therapy issues, if that makes any sense.
All that to say, at this point my symptoms have been extremely severe in a way that I am more and more "aware of" everyday, which may be harder to deal with than the times in the past I've been at Disneyland (last time was several years ago now, because I moved across the country.) I have visual and audio hallucinations with my flashbacks, I also often cannot tolerate being touched, and if I am, cannot "undo" the feeling, and instead feel like someone is holding down/confining me and I cannot get away. My flashbacks are constant, and cause hyperventilating and confusion. I also am in another level of confusion because certain "groups" of inside parts are experiencing some of the things while others are not, some of the time... so distraction can help partially, as long as the ones reliving traumas can be addressed too, re-oriented and reminded where they are, who is there and what is going on. I do have the added benefit of being able to email my psychiatrist from my phone anytime of day, and he generally gets back to me once or twice in the evening, and that assurance can help parts manage a little better knowing that he'll get back to us.
I will have my large, goldendoodle service dog at that time, next year, which also should help. He's being trained mostly for my trauma disorders, but also mobility issues caused by my DID. I just won't get him till next Fall, so it's a little bit of an unknown right now.
I'm thinking things like taking afternoon breaks (esp. If it's busy), eating meals at off times, avoiding fireworks as much as possible, attending to the needs/wants of "child parts" may all be helpful. Some people have mentioned they bring noise-cancelling headphones or iPod, also a tablet for passing time and I wonder if these things could help me.
All the switching I do between parts, I do wish someone who knows it could advise on, and what kind of problems this may cause in the park, but I understand if no one has experience here with that.
Are there other things I should bring with me to calm nerves? I'm thinking of changing one anti-psychotic med to being something I take spread out throughout the day, for regular toning down of certain very intrusive symptoms. That's another thing though... how to handled intrusive thoughts, such as trauma flashbacks, etc. that cause extremely heightened anxiety and confusion if I'm hit suddenly with that throughout the park. I'm hoping, at least, sitting with Harrison (my service dog) and asking him to do some deep pressure tasks, etc. might help, but don't know if there is anything else.
I'm sorry this is so long... just trying to flesh it out. I'm not particularly shy about my disorders as you can see, if you have any questions that you think could help you come up with ideas for me, I'd certainly welcome them. Thank you so much. I hope this little bit of added info will be a little more helpful. Currently I'm almost entirely confined to my house, with the exception of going to psych appointments, but my "littlest" are so motivated and excited about going to Disney, it's really one of the only things keeping us alive right now. We no longer have much in our lives that we look forward to. By the way, we are female 37, in the northeast US, if that helps at all.
Thanks so much,
BethCPTSD
I have read this thread and your other thread about your future service dog. I have seen that you are arriving on Jan. 2, but I did not see where you are staying. Maybe you posted it and I missed it. If so, I apologize. 
