My W had some issues in her past...something I've realized through this is that she's never really "found herself". I think a huge part of my DB efforts has been making sure that I'm no longer standing in the way of her doing so, and even subtly doing things to help her in her journey.
BITS M: 35 W: 35 T14, M11 D9, S6 ILYBINILY: June 09 Unofficially Separated (long distance): 1/2/11 W came home: 3/17/11 EE: July 2012 Dropped the rope: Oct 2012 Piecing: April 2013 Not piecing: April 2014 Stuck.
My W is an ACOA, and there was a lot of mental illness in her family growing up. Must have been more tramatic than even I know because at some point she simply removed the part of herself that would discuss feelings or think about the past. She live entirely in the moment, which I suppose is a nice trick if you can do it! Her F sort of held things together - just being stable. Then that became my job.