Standing there was my brother with one of my mother’s cooking pots sitting on our picnic table. It was full of water. My brother was standing over the pot with a knife in his hand. His other hand was holding some kind of skin. —My Courage to Tell Breaking the Silence: Why Minimizing Abuse Keeps […]
Category: Complex PTSD
Tickle Torture
“TICKLE TORTURE!” he screamed, diving on me without warning. I struggled, but he was stronger, older, angrier. He pinned my arms above my head with one hand while the other attacked my ribs. I was laughing—my body’s involuntary response—but also screaming, begging him to stop. “Say I’m the greatest,” he demanded, his eyes bright with […]
How Childhood Trauma Can Make You Sick
If you don’t know how to say no, your body will say it for you through physical illnesses. —Dr. Gabor Maté The long-term effects of ACES Life experiences in childhood that are lost in time and then further protected by shame and by secrecy and by social taboos against inquiry into certain realms into human […]
Covert Incest
A healthy family system has clear separation between adults and children.” When there is no separation, an emotionally toxic relationship forms. —Dr. Patricia Love Emotional/Covert Incest There no diagnosis for Emotional Incest Syndrome Not often talked about, Emotional/Covert Incest has long-lasting effects. When a parent lacks boundaries, they can rely on a child to fulfill […]
The Silent Treatment is Cruel
I tried to explain how hurt I was. Just like when we were kids, I was trying to get my mother to hear me. She refused to listen to me. Refused to empathize with me. Here I was, a grown-up woman, and the same thing was happening. No reply. Silence. —My Courage to Tell The […]
Dealing with PTSD
When you shut down emotion, you’re also affecting your nervous system. So the repression of emotion, which is the survival strategy, then becomes a source of physiological illness later on. —Gabor Maté, MD Trauma and Triggers As most of you know from following me and my blog, I have been dealing with C-PTSD, anxiety and […]
What is Complex PTSD?
“Often with PTSD there is the traumatic event; perhaps someone was in the war or had a car accident,” she explained. “With Complex PTSD, it’s more when we see psychological abuse. It’s this accumulation over time of feeling threatened.” —My Courage to Tell …the symptoms of PTSD do not really seem to completely describe the […]
Sibling Bullying
She wrote me that she felt terrorized. She travelled in the car – her bully was there. She ate at the kitchen table – her bully was there. This little five-year-old girl, Little Laura, told me that she had to walk to school with her bully. At school, her bully, with his predatory behaviour, was […]