My Story
I am an adult survivor of child abuse. I was also relentlessly bullied because I was different because I was ADHD. Nobody bothered to understand why I acted out after the relentless abuse was allowed to continue. I was punished for the choices I made out of fear and anger at the unfairness of everything that was allowed to happen to me.
I am now a Counselor, I understand the after effects.
Self doubt. Sensitive to criticism. Second guessing when your gut level tries to say this isn’t normal.
Unable to defend yourself to accusation because you’ve always been led to believe you’ve been wrong in the past.
Taking anything said that’s not in agreement with yourself as personal. Reacting in what is perceived as abnormally while being unable to explain why.
Most adult survivors of child abuse go on to become substance abusers.
I compare my childhood to living in a POW camp, I learned 3 hard cruel lessons:
I have no rights
My feelings don’t count
Because I’m worthless it makes it alright for people to hurt me.
All of us survivors have a Ph.D. In knowing how not to treat others.
You can read Bernie’s blog here: www.bernardballlmsw.com
This description is of me…
Self doubt. Sensitive to criticism. Second guessing when your gut level tries to say this isn’t normal.
Unable to defend yourself to accusation because you’ve always been led to believe you’ve been wrong in the past.
Taking anything said that’s not in agreement with yourself as personal. Reacting in what is perceived as abnormally while being unable to explain why.