Separation from Primary Caregiver(s)
Did anyone else have experience with being separated from their primary caregiver(s) as a child? Do you think it affected you long-term? If so, how have you tried to heal from the issues those experience(s) gave you as an adult?
For the first few years of my life my older sister was pretty much my primary caregiver. I spent a lot of my time with her and was the most attached to her. When I was around 3 she either moved out or got kicked out though, and I actually haven't seen her that much since then. I remember her moving out was very upsetting to me for a long time, and I also remember being unable to really attach to my parents in a similar way afterwards, since they weren't as attentive and seemed noticeably frustrated by having to take care of me so much.
I don't really dwell on this often, though I have recently begun to realize how much that affected me and continues to affect me. I think this experience left me with some attachment and emotional issues, like not being able to feel comfortable getting close to people and not feeling "secure" in my attachments to them. I know my issues won't "go away", especially since all of that happened during my early developmental years, but I would like to be able to cope better with them and to be able have more secure, fulfilling relationships with people.
If you had an experience like this, how were you able to cope with it as an adult and improve your relationships with other people?