The repetition doesn’t bother me at all. It IS all a matter of perspective
I teach and I give lectures. I train paramedics and give THE EXACT SAME LECTURE AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN . . . . When the terrorism thing started back in 1995 (OK city bombing) my bosses got the idea to train EVERY paramedic in LA County in responding to terrorism. A 3 hours class. They originally had 5-6 people lined up to speak but within weeks it dwindled to just 2 of us. The same 3 hour lecture presented up to twice a day for a year and a half(!) I have a lecture on bomb injuries I have been giving for almost a decade now. ( a 2 hour version and a 1 hour version)
I donnno was it the teacher in me who wanted it to be consistent (every student gets the same show) or the 'actor' in me who knows that a presentation should always be the same. (Imagine a Broadway star - same show 6 times a week for 5+ years!)
So, answer the same question again? Doesn’t bother me, I just imagine myself in a play delivering the same lines over and over again. . . . . I guess maybe that is the point of discussion here. Stress is what you make it. The repetition is incredibly annoying to some, but barely a nuisance to me.
Stress relief? MAYBE (if it is possible) try to turn an annoyance into a neutral . . . ?
This seems to be what is happening at the various stages. Our AD folks start a new annoying behavior, it results in stress. We eventually learn how to deal with it (tune it out) and BAM another behavior starts and we have to learn stress control all over again. . . . Stress is a very personal thing.
Perhaps THIS is what makes coping with AD so difficult? Whatever stage you are at at any given moment it is always the most stressfull. Then when you look back . . . ?
Now if anyone has any ideas how to cope with crying and whining that goes on for hours & hours & hours, I am open to suggestions. . . . I say this recognizing that when the quiet phase does come, I will probably miss the whimpering . . .
I taught 9th grade English for eight years, and I taught the same short stories and novels over and over ... I had 5 or 6 classes each year, so I'd do a book - say, The Hobbit - 5 or 6 times in one school year.
That didn't bother me at all ... Even though it was the same material that I presented, our discussions were as unique as the individual students themselves.
However, my husband's repetition -- I call it Groundhog Day -- does wear on me. It's tiresome to explain over and over what happened between my older daughter and her boyfriend. After 4 years, they broke up. That was several months ago. But DH brings it up often. He always starts off: "You know, I think there's more to the story of their breaking up."
I am amazed, of course, that he remembers they did break up! But he remembers nothing of the circumstances. So I have to go to the beginning, what led up to it, what was said, what has happened since the breakup ... It's like living it over and over again. And it's a time-consuming, involved explanation -- one I know I will be giving again and again.
I think it just tries one's patience. Everyone has a different threshold ... the point where patience gives out to frustration and anger. And on any given day, one's threshold can be different.
For me, it's annoying when DH calls me 7 times a day when I am at work. He calls and asks what he's supposed to be doing ... but he has an aide with him, who has a list. Before I left for work, I told DH what he'd be doing that day ... but I tell him again. And hour later, he'll call with the same question. And maybe 15 minutes later, he'll call again.
Small wonder: He hasn't forgotten my phone number!
Yes, m-mman - what you said is very true: Whatever stage you are at, at any given moment, is always the most stressful.
Dh laid hardwood floors in our den, dining room and hall a few years ago. They are walnut and they are very pretty. Well, he is obsessed now with the floors. At least three- four times per hour he comments on the floors just like he was seeing them for the first time. Of course sister and I agreed with him. Yesterday being the naughty girls we really are we began to disagree with him. Sadly he didn't seem to notice. We didn't do that long. Today the same thing again beautiful floors, prettier than before. Oh well it is a change from how much he loves me which was the obsession for awhile. Next week who knows maybe he won't like me at all.