Trigger Warning: Would anyone like to talk about how they are in adulthood after being abused by a sibling?

[whenyouarereal]

I've put a trigger warning on, though I'm not planning to talk in detail about the abuse I experienced..

I was abused by my brother throughout my childhood - mainly physical but also a lot of psychologial stuff; laying traps to frighten me etc, making quite detailed plans to terrorise me. Also some sexual abuse that I have no real narrative of, used to have flashbacks before therapy (therapy helped enormously).

Having worked through this abuse in therapy I'm now looking at the ways it's affected me. I don't know anyone else who has been through this and it would be nice to speak to other survivors.

I think it is particularly complex when the perpetrator of your abuse is a sibling as society (including my own family and friends) tend to dismiss it as somehow normal.

It is not normal to be tortured and abused from babyhood to teens and I can see the long term effects this has had on me - I have struggled a lot with looking after myself (drink too much, don't get enough sleep or eat too well, had bad eating disorder for years) and I link this back to the fact that I didn't get to grow up without being in fear and hurt ever day, so chaos and pain as default seems to make a lot of sense to me.

Just wondered if anybody else wanted to talk about their experiences. If not, that's fine, but thank you for reading.

Hi op, Im sorry for what you went through. It sounds so traumatic, especially given you were a little child.

I've no personal experience, but this book may help. You can read the first bit as a preview.
books.google.ie/books/about/Sibling_Abuse.html?id=tdrsCQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y

Half Sister is a psycho.

She tried to rip my parents apart from an early age and 25 years later she is still trying.

She has threatened to physically put me in hospital many times and has punched me leaving big bruises several times over the years. She has psychology battered my head in so many ways and emotionally blackmailed me, financially blackmailed me and threatened to spill my secrets to our father which at the time i believed (because she told me and i was only 14 at the time) that our father would disown me and never look at me the same way again.

Yet she wonders why i wont allow her near my children.

To say how i am in adulthood is untrusting of her and I dont believe everything people tell me now - I look into it. She caused a lot of anxiety over the years and still manages to now even though I cut contact 6 months ago.

Only reason she causes stress now (we dot live local to eachother and I've blocked her contact details on my social media and mobile number) id because my other half sister is attempting to pressure me into allowing visitation. Which has caused a fall out with her as i will not put my children at risk and she cannot respect my choice.

Thanks windmill I'll take a look.

I'm sorry to hear that summersix, it sounds as though you are making some good choices in terms of keeping her out of your life. Do your parents know what she's like?