We need to stop believing that we will recognize abusers when we meet them, clearly no one recognized what was happening to hundreds of gymnasts even after some of them came forward. “Given the abuse perpetrated by famous directors, beloved coaches, trusted priests and respected politicians, etc., it may be time to tolerate the cognitive…
Many survivors struggle with any number of mental health issues through their teens and into adulthood as a result of their abuse. Anorexia, while not something I have personal experience with, is something that I know some survivors are dealing with. This look into one woman’s struggle with it may help provide a look at…
The reality is people with addiction are still people. As are child abuse survivors, those dealing with mental health issues, people in prison, and on and on. Unfortunately, in our rush to convince ourselves that these “bad” things would never happen to us, or our family, we dehumanize the people who do have these “bad”…
As sometimes happens on social media, this review by Jennifer Gilmour randomly came to my attention a few days ago, and since I know some of my readers are always interested in reading the stories of other survivors, I thought I would share it with you. The book is by Jessica Aitken-Hall and from Jennifer’s review…
This is tough, because we don’t typically think of neglect in the same way we think of abuse, but it is. Physical neglect, obviously is, but emotional neglect can be devastating too: Aside from basic survival, one need that frequently arises when a parent is not physically or emotionally available, is the need to be…
This is about sexual assault, but it’s the same kind of thing we see with child abuse survivors too: Can’t we just believe survivors, or at least conduct really good investigations, without knowing about the neurobiology of stress and trauma? In theory, maybe, but often the ways people report reacting to assaults can be baffling,…
