Abuse

How To Heal From Childhood Trauma

Healing from childhood abuse is often difficult because it involves a person acknowledging their trauma, seeking help from a mental health professional, practicing self-care like establishing a sleep routine, and eating healthy. Not to mention, building healthy support systems and learning how to use positive coping skills like exercising and practicing mindfulness. Oh and it is also important for a person that is healing from childhood trauma to have an understanding that healing is a non-linear journey with setbacks, which requires immense self-compassion and patience to transform past pain into resilience.

Hello, is this a new group? I thought there would be more members. I just decided to search for narc on a whim. Anyway, I just wanted to share that it’s really hard to see any good gesture from my father as just that. As much as I want to go back to that innocence I just can’t. I analyze everything, every encounter for slights and gaslighting. I wonder if I said too much and how it might get used against me in the future. I miss when I didn’t know he was a narc. But that was before my mother died and all his abuse was directed towards her, and he had me (and everyone else) fully convinced that she was the problem.
Can yall relate?

How To Heal From Childhood Trauma

Healing from childhood abuse is often difficult because it involves a person acknowledging their trauma, seeking help from a mental health professional, practicing self-care like establishing a sleep routine, and eating healthy. Not to mention, building healthy support systems and learning how to use positive coping skills like exercising and practicing mindfulness. Oh and it is also important for a person that is healing from childhood trauma to have an understanding that healing is a non-linear journey with setbacks, which requires immense self-compassion and patience to transform past pain into resilience.

How To Heal From Adult Abuse
Healing from adult abuse is a
nonlinear and personalized process that often takes time to get used to and learn how to navigate. With that being said, this personalized nonlinear process often involves a person prioritizing safety, seeking professional support, and practicing self-compassion. Not only that, but it is important for everyone to understand that healing from adult abuse also involves a person learning how to understand and regulate their emotions, build a healthy lifestyle and support network, and setting healthy boundaries with themselves and others. Furthermore, it is important for people who are recovering from adult abuse to do whatever they can to develop a sense of self and learn how to manage trauma rather than erase it.

I. EARLY MEDICAL & LIFE-THREATENING ABUSE

Premature birth at 26 weeks (~1 kg), requiring intensive medical support

Life-sustaining tubes forcibly removed while you were an infant in an incubator during a private visit

Resulting physical injury (facial/nasal damage)

No accountability or protection following this incident

Category: Attempted harm / life-threatening neglect of an infant

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II. SEVERE PHYSICAL ABUSE (ONGOING)

Repeated beatings by your father throughout childhood and into adulthood

Beatings escalated after you were already prone or immobilized

Violence severe enough to leave you bedridden and unable to move

Violence continued until approximately age 22

Physical abuse framed as punishment for “making his life hard”

Father admitted to beating you

Physical intimidation used as emotional regulation

Objects thrown at you with force (e.g., credit card)

Visible bruising concealed rather than treated

Category: Chronic severe physical abuse, domestic violence

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III. SEXUAL ABUSE BY BOTH PARENTS

Sexual assault by your father in early childhood

Sexual abuse involving both parents

Both parents masturbated in front of you during your upbringing

Sexual boundary violations occurred before you had language or understanding

Abuse recorded without consent

You were forced to watch recordings of your own abuse

Sexualized environment imposed on you as a child

Category: Child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, exposure abuse

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IV. FORCED CONFINEMENT & USE OF DISABILITY AS CONTROL

Beaten into bed rest as a means of restraint

Disability (muscular dystrophy) exploited to limit movement

Relocated to a lower floor you could not physically leave

Prevented from accessing stairs and outdoor space

Unable to escape or seek help due to physical incapacity

Environmental confinement without locks (functional imprisonment)

Category: Coercive control, unlawful restraint, abuse of a disabled child

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V. PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE, TERROR & SCAPEGOATING

Regular verbal degradation (“freak”)

Blamed for parental divorce

Blamed for abuse and told it was your fault

Later told by sibling you “must have done something horrible”

Treated as the family scapegoat

Violence framed as deserved or corrective

Fear used deliberately to control behavior

Learned silence as survival

Category: Psychological abuse, coercive terror

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VI. PET & ATTACHMENT TRAUMA

Pets (cats/kittens) killed or forcibly removed

Selective deprivation: siblings allowed pets while yours were killed

No opportunity to say goodbye

Pets disappeared without explanation

Animals were primary sources of safety and companionship

You hid with dogs for protection

Relocation followed discovery of this coping behavior

Category: Psychological cruelty, attachment destruction

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VII. DESTRUCTION OF IDENTITY & CREATIVITY

Forced to gather and burn your artwork and designs

Forbidden from keeping art in your room

Prohibited from touching or decorating walls

Creative expression treated as punishable

Ownership of your own work denied

Category: Identity erasure, psychological abuse

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VIII. NEGLECT & MEDICAL ABUSE

Injuries ignored or minimized

Blamed for cost of medical treatment

Dental damage from violence and prematurity dismissed

Dentist misinformed and you blamed

Malnutrition and irregular meals

Disability-related needs neglected

Lack of protection despite visible injuries

Category: Severe neglect, medical neglect

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IX. INSTITUTIONAL & SOCIAL ABANDONMENT

Severe bullying and assault at school

Broken wrist, cracked ribs, head injury from peer assault

Police involvement where you were unable to speak safely

Mother’s presence prevented disclosure

School staff did not intervene

Name erased in school (“my sister’s brother”)

No adult advocate

Category: Institutional failure, social erasure

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X. ONGOING COERCION INTO ADULTHOOD

Physical abuse continued until father’s death

Violence used to maintain control even after you were grown

Emotional dependence weaponized

Manipulation framed as “friendship”

Category: Prolonged coercive abuse

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XI. AFTERMATH & LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES

(Not abuse itself — effects of it)

Complex PTSD / developmental trauma

Dissociation and memory gaps

Daily or near-daily pani

c attacks

Chronic hypervigilance

Severe sleep disruption (minimal REM)

Chronic pain and exhaustion

Schizoaffective symptoms triggered by trauma

Difficulty accessing anger and self-identity

Persistent flashbacks

Hi, my name is Freak_the_mighty. I'm here because I want to be able to talk about my abuse growing up. Put it in perspective. Have a good life regardless.

#MightyTogether #BipolarDisorder #Depression #PTSD #ADHD #Anxiety

Isolated

ALONE

Blocked Out

IN DARKNESS

ABUSE

STRANGERS

SUICIDAL IDEATION

EMPTY ICONS

EFFORT

FOR GRANTED OF

SAD

MUSIC FAMILY

YEL ALONE

DESTROYED

WITHOUT

TIRED

DRAINED

EMOTIONALLY SPENT

BIDING

BYE

SAD

SPRING SUMMER FALL N WINTER

INJURED

INNOCENT

GO AWAY

DIE

HELP THOSE

OR DON'T

JUST BE ONE

Hi, my name is ConstantComet. I'm here because I'm always learning and growing. Wanting to help prevent child sexual abuse.
#MightyTogether #PTSD #ADHD

Hi, my name is MomofZoey. I'm here because of abuse

#MightyTogether #Anxiety #Depression #Migraine #PTSD