It's so frustrating that no one understands. People who have

It's so frustrating that no one understands. People who haven't experienced abuse think that it's something you just get over, you'll maybe have 1 emotional convo about it and then you'll be fine. But it's been a couple of years and I still get flashbacks about it and think about it all the time. It affects everything. Today my closest friend said my abuser just had "bad traits", and compared it to her boyfriend just being bad at understanding sometimes. It was like being punched in the stomach. There's one person I can talk to about it, but I worry that I'll depress him/piss him off. I wish I could make people understand without having to explain every detail of the trauma.

As a survivor of abuse I can't say you'll ever forget your abuse/trauma, but you will eventually heal to the point you don't think about it every day. I will say to you don't let it ruin your life. Don't focus so much on what happened that it paralyzes you from living and being successful. I allowed my pain and anger to ruin more than a decade of my life. Please don't do that to yourself. (Hug)

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@jimisgirl (hugs back) I don’t know how to stop. Every time I try to get away, something brings the trauma back. I don’t know how to process it.

It sounds like a pretty lonely place for you sometimes.

@blujonny pretty much. I struggle with mental illness as well so I feel isolated a lot.

From Substance Abuse to Mental & Physical Abuse