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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

Support thread for survivors of childhood sexual abuse

721 replies

cailindana · 10/03/2015 14:17

I started a thread some time ago as a support for people who suffered sexual abuse as children. It went on for quite some time and I think people found it helpful. It fizzled out for various reasons but I'm thinking now is a time to get it going again.

I was abused as a child, by two family friends. My family entirely ignored it, and when I tried to talk to my mother about it she basically told me to shut up. It affected my life massively as a teenager and led to some self-destructive behaviour in my twenties. But with the help of my massively supportive DH (without whom I don't know where I'd have ended up), MN, and some really great friends, I feel like I've dealt with it to a large extent and it no longer has such a hold on my life.

This thread is intended for people who want to talk about their experiences with abuse - either themselves, or those they love. You can share as much or as little as you like. You can just come on and say you're here, you don't have to contribute anything. This will be a safe space to chat to people who understand what you're dealing with. Hopefully it will help.

OP posts:
FilbertSnood · 04/06/2015 18:49

I've emailed one just now to ask for an appt - fingers crossed that she is good...

AlwaysDancing1234 · 04/06/2015 19:30

Good luck Filbert

PeppermintCrayon · 04/06/2015 20:05

Good luck!

I actually wanted a male counsellor. I wanted someone who didn't have the same kind of body as me, who couldn't share my experiences, if that makes sense? Plus I'd previously had a bad experience with a woman.

FilbertSnood · 04/06/2015 20:31

I think I may have issues with men! Part of the reason I'd like counselling.

ghostspirit · 04/06/2015 20:57

thought this was meant to be a support thread...first time posting. post something sensitive to me...and not one aknowledgement.....

FilbertSnood · 04/06/2015 21:07

Sorry ghost Sad

That wasn't intentional. Will look back.

FilbertSnood · 04/06/2015 21:13

ghost are you thinking of finding anyone else - counsellor or similar? Just to talk through those things? Or has your experience totally put you off?

PeppermintCrayon · 04/06/2015 21:15

Sorry ghost, I thought it was part of the discussion and didn't notice the question at the end; personally I'm a bit up and down right now and it's not personal. I'm not sure I can answer, but maybe someone else can? Personally I struggle with not knowing what is and isn't because of the abuse; I'll never know "what if".

It IS a support thread but please do remember that each of us is just one poster doing their best Flowers

AlwaysDancing1234 · 05/06/2015 02:26

ghost I'm sorry, please don't think you were being ignored. I, like many other posters, only come on to this thread every couple of days so only read the last couple of posts. I've now read back and realised your post was one of several on the same day so I'm afraid it kind of got 'lost'.
Of course past abuse has an effect on current relationships, maybe you feel like you have to put up with crap because you don't feel you deserve better

cailindana · 05/06/2015 09:45

Hey ghost I missed your post too. It's really hard to separate out the effects of the abuse from what would have happened anyway. That's where counselling can help, I think, as long as you find a decent counsellor. It can help you to see how the abuse shaped your thinking and what aspects of that thinking you can now let go of. How are things for you at the moment?

OP posts:
ghostspirit · 05/06/2015 10:45

hi...i dont think i will seek counselling. only get so many sessions and it takes time to get to the bottom of issues/explore them. i dont think that can happen in a few sessions. feels like could open things up and then sent on your way to get on with life after opening a big can of worms...

also i will probably never find any answers even if i did its not going to change anything.

i don't actually get into bad relationships as such. its just i dont try and stay in them.get pregnant then push him away..not saying the relationship is great but i dont even try. the moment i feel something could effect my kids or myself i push them away.

i have for given my abuser for what happen...but i don't like the way in treated now.

cailindana · 05/06/2015 11:26

I've tried counselling a couple of times with not much success. It's not an easy option, definitely but I do think with the right one (which is hard to find) and enough sessions it can do a lot of good.

You say you don't like the way you're treated now, what does that mean?

OP posts:
ghostspirit · 05/06/2015 11:45

yeah i worrys me that things could be opened up and then just left to it...

i feel like im treated like an outsider...my mum has a relationship with the person who abused me. wich i dont have a problem with. but she cant even be arsed to talk to me.

shedidherbest · 05/06/2015 11:54

Reading this thread is like a mirror in to my mind. It's a revelation to me.

I'm all over the place up down and back to bloody front, inside out. Not sure how long I can cope with it all. Everything's falling apart. Even with my dc now. What a mess.

ghostspirit · 05/06/2015 11:58

bestwhy is everthing falling apart ((hugs))

shedidherbest · 05/06/2015 12:10

All the family. Everyone is upset with me. They're tired of the same old excuses.

They know what happened in facts but they can't understand how it now affects me. They think it's just me being dramatic and self-pitying and making excuses for being a bit crap.

I've just picked a bloody counsellor at random and emailed me. I've got to do something to help myself because this time I think I will die. I feel so messed up.

shedidherbest · 05/06/2015 12:54

Just rang a friend and didn't say what was going on, but just talking to a familiar voice has calmed me down at least. I get pretty panicky about coping. Wonder if the counsellor will get in touch.Ha.

Thanks for the hugs ghost Thank you for this thread. It means a lot to see that so much of what I took to be unique to me is actually common to this type of experience. My brain is whirring so many things are clicking with me.

Reading Cailin's experience with the rejecting friend makes me feel guilty (more fucking guilt it never fucking stops). I realise that the snippets I've told my dc were probably too much and I have been very selfish. I didn't realise what I was telling them really at the time. I was thinking out loud. And now I'm making excuses. So perhaps they are right.

But I'm sorry you've been let down too Cailin. Wish there was a rl support grp.

ghostspirit · 05/06/2015 17:12

best i think people say things about being dramatic so they can make it seem like its not such a big deal because then they dont have to deal with it and its easyer for them. glad you found a friend you can talk to.like you say does not always have to be to talk about the issue.just nice to have someone there...

cailindana · 06/06/2015 05:51

Shedid, have your children complained that you told them too much?

OP posts:
shedidherbest · 07/06/2015 23:58

Not directly Cailin but was talking to youngest and she let slip that she had been to talking to eldest and they both were criticising me and how I handle problems. They don't understand that I've got so much going through my mind so much of the time about what happened to me. It makes me stressed and anxious. I get panicky and feel like I can't cope and think of suicide to stop it.

For so long what happened was never spoken about, for decades. I brought it up with parents 4 years ago and again a couple of months ago. Just those two times. Was pretty awful really. The first time they were really defensive and basically said I was selfish bringing it up and should be grateful for all they had done. The second time was a bit better because they acknowledged the neglect. But it seems pointless talking to them. It doesn't make me feel any better. Just guilty for upsetting them.

TesselateMore · 08/06/2015 21:05

Hello all, I've been dipping in and out of this thread for a while. I'm a huge fan of counselling but I think I'm lucky that my counsellor's style worked really well for me.

I'm feeling pretty well at the moment but I still avoid relationships.

Did the counsellor get in touch yet shedid? One thing counselling helped me with was my anger with my mother for not supporting me when I told her (years after when I was an adult). I have a loving relationship with her now but she still irritates me sometimes because she copes by pretending it never happened.

I wanted to recommend a book that I used when I first went to counselling. It's called Rescuing the Inner Child by Penny Parks. It leads you into writing a scenario where your adult self rescues your younger self. It sounds a bit wacky but I think it helped me feel more in control. I don't need to make my mum face up to it because I can write it a different way where it's me that does what she should have done.

Hard to explain but it meant I was ready to forgive her. She was a rubbish mother then but she does her best now which is enough for me.

thegreysheep · 09/06/2015 14:53

Sorry ghost been away for this thread a bit, sorry you felt ignored. shedid tesse and ghost it's very common for families of abusers - mothers etc. - not t want to rock the boat, ghost I remember feeling different to siblings and other family too, and that must be sooo difficult your mother is still in a relationship with your abuser - imagine how much denial she has to invest in to be able to do that! You are under no obligation though to maintain a relationship with the abuser however, even if you understandably want something with your mum.

My abusers were mum's relatives, dad not sexually abusive but physically and emotionally and verbally so - have a good relationship with my mum but she has had to do a lot of compartmentalising (as I have had to also) I'd say to make her peace with all that over the years!

One positive thing this weekend though, was home and my dad burst in to where I was having breakfast and blew up at me over something arbitrary - was very physically a threatening and caught me totally off-guard. Mum came up and straight away started defending me, I was shocked and upset but also named his bullying for what it was, didn't get into an argument over what he was upset about but told him the issue was his aggressive manner, that the reason he blows up is he can't handle his own feelings, takes them out on us, feels better after but leaves us feeling like crap. He said he wasn't a bully but had himself been bullied as a child. We kissed and made up later, but I made it clear to him that, on occasion, his behaviour is threatening and bullying, he may not mean/realise this, but it is so, and he has to learn to handle and control his own feelings and communication.

Mum was saying after she was delighted I stood up to him/ had the chat, he does it to her and everyone else also but they usually either ignore or retaliate, I'm the only one who engages him on it.

Felt good after, first real conversation we've ever had recently (dad), finally stood p in a constructive manner and hey, it's only taken me 40 years:) The point is, I went through years of feeling the outsider/ different/ not good enough/ inconvenient - you can busy that or else engage with it, it is difficult and uncomfortable, but all that soul-searching and emotional honesty with yourself can eventually have a good effect, and on others also maybe. Try to keep going with counselling/ talking/ whatever helps, and hey the fact we are facing/dealing with these difficult issues, rather than burying them as many do, is a big deal in itself and takes great strength hugs

cailindana · 11/06/2015 10:24

Hi all, hope everyone's doing ok. I've got a rotten throat infection so can't keep up with posts but just wanted to bump to keep the thread going.

OP posts:
cailindana · 13/06/2015 17:45

Bump

OP posts:
PeppermintCrayon · 14/06/2015 00:21

Thanks for bumping!

Have you seen this? www.mybodybackproject.com/

It's a cervical screening clinic especially for survivors of rape and abuse. I've got an appointment booked - it's free and you can self refer.