Dear Prudence,
I’m home for the holidays. After leaving home, I started seeing a therapist and processed some of my childhood experiences (keyword: some). Now I’m back and I’m realizing just how much stress being back in that house causes me. I have several chronic illnesses that returned to their flare states due to the return of constant stress. My therapist is covered by the school, but our contract doesn’t last over the holidays. I can’t afford another one, especially since my family doesn’t believe in mental health.
Worst of all, my biggest trigger of all, my sister, is coming home, too. She’s the reason I have hearing loss, scars on my back, an arm that didn’t heal right, a fear of the sound of slamming doors, and a litany of other problems. My parents think it’s all in the past, so they won’t accept that I don’t want to see her. I have nowhere else to go, and I can’t afford to rent an apartment for a month, so what can I do during this time? How can I keep myself from getting stressed out over the holidays, especially with my sister coming back?