Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Being heard: Sure's journey (thread 3)

925 replies

surereadyforchange · 19/11/2014 14:46

previous (2nd) thread

What to say? Abusive rapist ex reported, Police Statement given over a month ago and he is still blissfully unaware, still messaging, and nothing has happened.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
BadgerB · 04/04/2015 14:39

Wow! Superb poem - very moving, then, Wham! Well done you!

TeenyfTroon · 04/04/2015 15:16

Crikey, Sure, that's powerful.

I love the horse/stable analogy. I'll remember that. Understanding hasn't worked, I think dealing with and moving on from him will prove more effective for you.

Let us know what happens with the Coke and the Mentos. I'm so tempted to try it ...!

Good luck to Badgers' DH after Easter.

ptumbi · 04/04/2015 16:07

Sure that is a really flesh-tingling poem.

I think it's excellent. I hope it was cathartic, tho I think it'll need more than that.

Happy birthday Fucker indeed. Come on Karma!

IPokeBadgers · 04/04/2015 18:16

Excellent poem indeed! And true, he may have friends and family believing his false front, but he has to live that twisted life. But you Sure, you have integrity and insight and the ability and strength to grow as a person and to be be truly happy in the future. He will never have any of that, he will always be a weak spineless fucker whose own fear and weakness means he only feels strong and important by trying to control and demean others.

And the best bit Sure? He is no longer calling the shots in your life. You have left this loser behind Grin

Oh, and thanks Teeny, hopefully my DH will get something sorted soon...being at home all day doesn't suit his personality!

surereadyforchange · 09/04/2015 09:27

I've read two threads this morning in Relationships where posters have said they want to kill themselves - have they changed the rules back again?

OP posts:
surereadyforchange · 09/04/2015 09:31

Just wondering as I considered asking for my thread to be moved back.
I've got to write a course outline today, luckily Ds was happy to play with the 'cloud dough ' i made him and is making a mess downstairs while i make a start. Its such a beautiful day I'd love nothing more than to pack some sandwiches and get out with DS but I've got to work.
I'm still finding it hard to move on in my head.
The WA sessions next week can't come fast enough!

OP posts:
Letsgoforawalk · 09/04/2015 17:01

Hi sure, I'm not sure about mumsnet policy or rules. You could always ask though. I suspect all your 'regular' friends on here have the thread on their 'watched' list and will therefore keep tabs on it wherever it lives.
Hope the WA sessions are good.

Just wanted to say I sympathise with you having to work on a glorious day. Been there done that Smile

You'll get there and lovely days will be yours to do as you like on. I remember many Sunday afternoons looking out at the sky thinking "what would I rather be doing than this?" But it's a means to an end. Now I have my qualification, I've just got a dog Grin and I can spend my days off out on the hills just as I want.

DPotter · 09/04/2015 22:14

Hi Sure
The poem was very moving & powerful. You have a wonderful way with words Sure.

Knuckling down to the paperwork is hard when the weather is so good - but 'well done' you for doing it. It shows your grit & determination. Like Lets says you will get there - your determination is a good example to your DS and there will be more sunny days for you to enjoy

Momagain1 · 14/04/2015 20:39

Hi, Sure. Did you get through the weekend OK? Are school holidays done where you are?

surereadyforchange · 16/04/2015 07:54

Hi all
I had my 1st WA session yesterday and it was a lot different from the counselling ive had where she was almost feeling sorry for him like i did (due to his upbringing).
I was properly assessed in a DV context and was quite shocked again when she showed me the results of a questionnaire I'd answered and posted to her pre-session.
There were sort of 3 tiers horizontally where she'd scored my answers in a sort of line graph going from left to right.
She explained that the lower tier is where they'd expect someones answers to be if they'd not really experienced abuse or only a one off incident i think. 2nd tier up was the section of the population who have experienced abuse like an abusive relationship.
I was at the top of the top tier where she said they would expect people to be who have experienced prolonged and traumatic abuse.
Feels weird and I was quite shocked but she said after assessing me the biggest issue at the top of my list is disassociation which probably explains a lot about my behaviour.
she said my surprise at finding i was in an abusive relationship and how i still struggle to believe it was r@pe and abuse is due to the coping strategies i developed over 5 years and how I've been manipulated and brainwashed to feel my feelings dont matter, which makes sense because when I used to cry he'd roll his eyes and huff FFS. Or when he'd start shouting and calling me names I'd settle in for the night cause i knew it would be hours and hours and he wouldn't let me leave so I'd start "numbing off" as she called it. Which is true cause I remember I'd start singing in my head to drown him out.
I used to do it as a child to drown out the screaming from my mum and sister.
She also came out and said my mum was abusive.
I'll update more later cause there's so much more but i need to get DS to school.
Thanks everyone for checking in on me. X

OP posts:
IPokeBadgers · 16/04/2015 08:44

Hi Sure

Wow. Don't take this the wrong way but that is amazing. Finally someone [in real life] who has really, truly, recognised AND acknowledged to you the extent of what you have been through. I am so "pleased" that finally someone has said, to your face, in a professional, knowledgeable environment, what many on here have said for such a long time now about the extent of the abusive situations and relationships you have experienced.

So many of us have read your posts about your experiences and have struggled to convince you that it WAS abuse, it WAS rape and that no, you were not crazy or in any way deserving of the treatment you have received at the hands of people you loved and could reasonably have expected to care for and treat you right.

It has been hard to see you doubting yourself so much, to see you at times almost apologetic for how other people have treated you. No right-minded person [and I believe there are many on MN] wants to think of another person being treated the way you have been treated.

The fact that you have finally had that validation/recognition from a professional who is used to dealing with cases like yours is something that I hope will help you as you keep moving forward with your life.

Remember:

You do matter. Your feelings matter. Very much.

surereadyforchange · 16/04/2015 09:45

Thank you.
She was trying to get some emotion out of me. She said "How did you feel when he raped you?" Apparently my face was blank when i said "nothing".
"It was just kind of normal". Then I said about how i hear his voice in my head saying it wasn't rape, i was just a bit pushy, you are overreacting, you always have to push it, you think everyone abuses you blah blah.

When i told her about what he said about how I am "so overemotional" and my "reactions are so extreme", she said "well i would say the opposite. You have endured years of controlling and traumatic verbal, emotional and sexual abuse and you think it was normal and you are completely unemotional when you talk about it."
So she thinks i'm suppressing a lot of emotion and its not good. She says she thinks its just a coping strategy i have developed "to keep yourself safe".
She wants it to come out which i'm not keen on, as i feel I've been keeping a lid on it ok recently!

My homework was to picture a container that when things come up for me, i need to put them in the box to deal with them later, to contain them.

Funny she said that cause i have recently got a box at home i have been throwing things in like the ring, letters from him i find, etc because i cant deal with them right now, but i don't want to just throw the ring away, i just don't know what to do with it.

The other homework is when i hear his voice in my head like above, just to say "no, you're wrong, this belongs to you not me, i'm not listening" and to push the thoughts back to him.

I am worried because of the high scores, i remember the same things happening when i first went to WA. When she assessed me as high risk and i was questioning myself like as if i had lied about something.
I know i haven't lied about anything.
I signed my statement in the eyes of the law and it was all the truth.
My scores for my symptoms i have been experiencing, even down to bad lower back pain all correlate with someone who has been abused.

But i can't reconcile it in my head, it just won't connect.
I hear "it wasn't rape, i didn't rape you, i'm not a rapist, you are always so overemotional, you're dangerous, you get people in trouble throwing words like abuse around, you think everyone is abusive toward you, your reactions are so extreme, you're mentally ill" and so on, and on , and on.

Maybe that's why i just close down.

I had never thought about it being disassociation before.
And you're right Badgers , I feel like i should be the one apologising.

I had SUCH a bad dream last night, DS and I were on some sort of ride, where we were going down on a kind of black slide under the ground, (cause there were crystals, we love crystals) and it was all dark, but something went wrong and we were trapped in this small space under the ground. I am massively claustrophobic and we were stuck, but DS was there i was all like "it's fine, we'll just wait here until someone comes and gets us out, it's ok".
But then all the lights went out and it was pitch black and i was still singing out "it's fine, they'll rescue us in a minute" and someone who was ahead of us, a man, had come back to where we were and he started grabbing me in the dark, sticking his fingers in me, breathing all over me, and went to try and have sex with me - its pitch black and i was still trying to hold on to and reassure DS while quietly fighting this man off me. I eventually managed to fight him off and we just sat there in the dark but it was ages and DS needed the loo and in my dream we were down there for days and ended up lying in our own and other peoples urine and shit that had come down the slide or whatever it was.

Then i was at my Nanna and Grandads house ( they are both dead and the house was sold in the 80s) and my mum had just told me not to tell anyone but she was leaving and never coming back - then she just left with a really disdaining look up and down at me.
I was trying to tell my dad what I've been through (in real life, about 'him' etc, my teenage yrs) and he was saying what do you expect? You were always the temperamental one, you always had to be different.

Then i managed to get out of the house (the doors were all locked) and ended up in a kitchen i didn't recognise where some guy that used to write me weird letters at school that i haven't thought about for decades was trying to rape me, then he stripped all my clothes off and his, and he was trying to kill me, like strangle me and stab me, we were wrestling and he brought out a gun and kept putting it to my head and laughing. I managed to grab it off him and was trying to shoot him but i just kept missing, it was like he was all slippery.

I think something happened where i smashed a bottle of something on him, and we were both wet and he went to stick his finger in the plug socket, and had hold of me, and he started juddering and smiling, being electrocuted and passing the current through to me, i was freaking out then i managed to pick up a plastic wrapped cucumber (!) and prise him off me and ran out slamming the door behind me (this reminds me directly of my mums old boyfriend chasing me and me slamming and trying to lock doors behind me to stop him getting me).

Running through this house i didn't know, slamming doors behind me to try and slow him down - i reached the front door ( still totally naked in the dream) and I remember thinking "maybe this is a dream and i can control whether this door to the street and safety and other people is locked or not" and then i woke up.

Wow that was long!!

OP posts:
Momagain1 · 16/04/2015 20:37

Oh, Sure! That must have been frightening! It's like now she told you 'It Was Abuse! You were abused!' And your brain is trying to dredge up everything you have ever tried to not think about. It's probably sort of good, sort of bad. Giving yourself a 'lovey' like a stuffed animal orr special pillow might be reassuring if you wake frightened in the night. even a small ritual like tidying your blankets can be created to reassure yourself.

That you were aware your dream was a dream could be useful. It is called 'lucid dreaming' and you can train yourself to make yourself wake up. You may find you keep redreaming the same or similiar scenes. That can be useful if you are one of those that can teach yourself to manipulate your dream world. Some people can train themselves to act differently in a dream, so if you are re-dreaming something, you can rewrite it so that whatever is happening is resolved, or doesnt reach the abuse point in the first place.

TeenyfTroon · 16/04/2015 20:50

Sure, it's a bloody miracle that you are the person, and parent, that you are after all you've been through. I have no idea what the best way to live with this is, but I have ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT that you will find a way. Even in your dreams you survive. You are a lovely, lovely person. Flowers

surereadyforchange · 16/04/2015 22:33

Thanks both.
It was very weird, but i do sometimes get that thing where i think (in my dream) 'maybe this is a dream' and try to wake up. I will have to practise that. DS was in with me all night, luckily he is a heavy sleeper as i was probably moving about!
A lovey is a good idea. I used to cuddle my Nanna's old Pooh Bear that has been around longer than me. Especially when 'he' had been especially mean or nasty and i was upset and going to bed alone.
I will cuddle him tonight :)
DS seeing his dad this wknd for first time in 2 months.. I'm worried about being aimless and feeling lonely.
At least extenu@ting circumstances have been granted by the ex@m board which means i can have consideration- if i fail my assignments i can re-sit and get good marks, whereas usually you can only get a pass if you resit.
Just waiting to find out if i can get an extension.
Meant to say- good news on DS school front- i badgered admissions and it turns out they had our old address down on the criteria (despite having current one on file for post) and having re - jigged it he's top of the list for the 'outstanding' ranked one just round the corner where all his Beavers friends go.. we're both over the moon!
Please cross yr fingers for him that a place comes up soon. I'm visualising him in the uniform and sending positive vibes!!

OP posts:
TeenyfTroon · 17/04/2015 10:48

Sure, can you talk yourself into seeing your time alone this weekend as a positive, 'Great, I can get some work done,' or even treat yourself to something nice, whatever you need, maybe something like a manicure or pedicure. Or something else that involves 'good' contact. Even doing nothing is therapeutic if you can see it as a positive choice, not an 'I really should be doing something else' waste of time.
Great news about the school. I'll visualise your DS among his Beaver friends too!
Also good about the extensions - you so deserve some RL help and support.

Momagain1 · 18/04/2015 13:35

Oh, so happy for DS, hope that works out soon! being a badger mum is necessary sometimes!

surereadyforchange · 19/04/2015 11:53

I was up til 5 am with a panic attack...nothing too bad but I was scratching the skin of one arm quite hard like i had an itch. It was a bit sore.
I just felt really frightened and DS was away.
Dwelling on why he treated me as sub-human.
When I'd be stood there crying and he wouldn't even touch me. Just looking at me with his cold dark eyes saying "What the fucks wrong with you".
Hearing his voice.
"You're such a fucking victim".

OP posts:
Momagain1 · 19/04/2015 18:53

I am sorry none of us was here earlier to respond to you. That must have been terrible.

You can't be a victim on your own. He abused you and victimised you. Because he is a very screwed up excuse for a human. Being a victim is NOT something that originates in you, it is a way of thinking that has been forced on you.

You are a lovely strong woman, who survived that crap, and who is dumping that way of thinking. Your mind will fight back, minds dont like changing, but you will win in the end.

surereadyforchange · 19/04/2015 20:39

I hope so, Momagain . Thanks :)
Its lonely sometimes, especially in the small hours.

OP posts:
Momagain1 · 19/04/2015 23:01

Yes. It is.

TeenyfTroon · 20/04/2015 07:37

It must be so difficult to counter the panic when you're the only tool available and you're the one who's panicking. I'm wondering if you could record your own voice saying the positive, countering thoughts (as you mentioned above) so that you could listen when you're struggling.

I wish I had the knowledge and skills to help you. I really do. Flowers

IPokeBadgers · 20/04/2015 08:25

HI Sure

Sorry wasn't about yesterday: hope you are feeling a bit better this morning? I dont know what to say: I wish it was as easy as telling you not to dwell on him, because that is only hurting you more.

Maybe ask at your next session what suggestions there are for stopping that spiral down into negativity and fear when you are feeling vulnerable.

Not experienced all the crap you have, but I do understand about the wee small hours. I know in my past I found that was the time to reach out to the Samaritans. Just to hear a human voice was very comforting when it felt like the world was closing in and the darkness was never going to end.

Momagain1 · 20/04/2015 09:45

Oh, that sounds like an idea, if you need a grown up to say reassuring things to you in the middle of the night.

I was logging in to say Happy Monday! to you. My ds went back to school today. The house is soooo quiet. And also, a wreck. How's your week starting?

Momagain1 · 22/04/2015 10:12

Hope this week has you busy with positive things like revising and taking care of your lovely ds.

Swipe left for the next trending thread