Sorry for rambling post but I wanted to share this
for any fellow survivors of DV that (like me) need some validation of their experiences.
I watched this documentary tonight and could identify with nearly everything this woman went through in terms of the abuse she suffered. It made me realise just how dangerous a situation I was once in and that I truly am a survivor. I still have so much healing to do nearly a decade after leaving, but I can recognise how far I have come and I need to stop being so hard on myself for not being "over it" yet.
I think there is such little understanding of how DV "works", which is reflected in so many victim blaming threads that have cropped up recently on MN. People question why women have children with abusive men, why they stay in the relationships etc. and it is so difficult to verbalize the psychological torture these relationships put you through, but this documentary shows what life can be like living in these relationships and how you become so manipulated, reality is distorted.
For anyone who is into true crime (or obsessed like me), this series has loads of videos on youtube, sadly many of which I can identify with too but I feel it really helps me to consolidate my experience (as I NEVER want to be in another abusive relationship).