It’s because it’s traumatic that memories can be repressed, not in spite of. It’s not the same as saying you forget what you had for breakfast three days ago where your mind just never puts it in long term memory. Memories of trauma don’t go through the normal process of how the brain handles everyday things … Continue reading Question: How is it possible that the brain forgets abuse if its such a traumatizing event?
childhood sexual abuse
Informational Article: Grooming, What is it?
Grooming is when someone builds a connection with someone to gain their trust for the purposes of sexual abuse, child porn production or sex trafficking. Grooming can be done in person and online.
Culture: Do people have a victim complex?
In culture we hear a lot about the concept of a “victim mentality". But this is a deeply loaded term. It's also very politicized, mostly used by people who fall into the general internet style Right Wing circles and the "culture war". It usually is used in the context of those who belonged to a … Continue reading Culture: Do people have a victim complex?
Informational Article: Signs of Sexual Abuse
Signs in Children: Anger and aggressivenessAny extreme changes of behaviour or moodsAn unhealthy attachment to a single personAnxiety and hypervigilanceAvoiding changing in front of people, dressing out for gym class, swimming or other activities where more than normal skin is exposedBeing overly compliant with requests, directions and physical contact. Or a “fawn” responseBleeding in the … Continue reading Informational Article: Signs of Sexual Abuse
Informational Article: Childhood Sexual Abuse Fact Sheet
Statistics On Victims: Gender/Sex of Victims: 1/5 or about 20% of female will experience sexual abuse before the age of 18 in the US. This does include non-contact abuse. (1)1/20 to 1/10 or 5 to 10% of males will be sexually abused before the age of 18 in the US. This does include non-contact abuse … Continue reading Informational Article: Childhood Sexual Abuse Fact Sheet
Informational Article: Trauma Bonding
Trauma bonding is a way to understand patterns of abusive behaviour and how that affects the neurochemistry of the victims, and how that, in turn, relates to how the people in the relationship bond with the abuser. This helps survivors understand why they can miss abusive relationships and why they continued to love their abusers … Continue reading Informational Article: Trauma Bonding
Question: How Do I Stop Being Angry at My Parents for Not Protecting me?
You can’t stop being angry by forcing yourself to do it. In general, you can’t force emotions, of any kind. Anger makes sense and is important. Anger at your parents for not protecting you, is something really common for survivors rather it’s their direct fault, or they were oblivious, or just didn’t listen. Telling yourself … Continue reading Question: How Do I Stop Being Angry at My Parents for Not Protecting me?
Symptom Explainer: Why Symptoms sometimes worsen overtime
Trauma itself did affect you at the time of abuse, on a neurological level. Trauma, especially childhood trauma, reworks brain development. Trauma changes the size and development of sections our brains. Knocks our neurotransmitters, endocrine systems and the sympathetic nervous system out of whack (other changes as well). Symptomatology can vary between people and throughout … Continue reading Symptom Explainer: Why Symptoms sometimes worsen overtime
Symptom Explainer: Why Abuse May Feel Unreal
Feeling like what happened to you isn’t real is a very common phenomenon with survivors of child sexual abuse. Here we will look at what fuels this sensation. Some of the main factors include poor memory, denial of trauma, personal downplaying of trauma, societal pressure, and emotional/psychological abuse. Poor memory of childhood trauma is often … Continue reading Symptom Explainer: Why Abuse May Feel Unreal
Informational Article: Fight, Flight, Freeze & Fawn
We’ve all heard of the “Fight or Flight Response”. When looking at the physiology this is the sympathetic nervous system response. The sympathetic nervous system is part of the autonomic nervous system, the involuntary functions of the nervous system. It is the way our bodies handle input that we read as fighting and/or a threat.
Survivors Healing Survivors 