Topic : Childhood Sexual Abuse Support

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Created on : Thursday, July 07, 2005, 08:57:56 am
Author : dataimport
Are you or a loved one a victim of childhood sexual abuse? Join others to share advice and offer support.

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February 12, 2006, 6:52 pm PST

get healing

Quote From: aprilbyrum

I was sexually abuse from the age of 2 to 18.  By my father who turns out not to be my father. Long story. From the age of 16 to 18 my uncle started in, not touching but hinding in my room opening doors when I'm in the shower, showing his body, and more. 

 I found out that my mother new about the abuse from my father by the court paper I have.  Her statement  was at less he did not have sex with any other woman except my girls.  Trying to take setps to get my life together is hard.  It seems I always reflict on what happened and what my mother had said.  I tried to talk to my mother, but she always says she made peace with it.  I dont know how to make peace with this or how to move on.  Everyone around me thinks that I'm good. but its just a front I put on. Cause to tell the truth I feel like I'm dieing inside. 

Healing is what you need.  That's the only way you'll make peace with it.  Find a counselor that you can trust to talk to.  Keep talking until you feel peace.  Quit talking to you mom She'll never understand what you went through.  Find others in your life to talk to.  Find someone who'll support you.  It's hard but it can be done.  I am so sorry that you went through this.  Living a life of abuse as a child isn't easy and now having to live with unhealed feelings isn't easy either.  I understand you pain as my father was one of my abusers at the age of 3 (from what I can remember).  I will send you a safe hug.   

 
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February 12, 2006, 8:02 pm PST

i'm sorry that happened to you, all.

i too am a survivor of sexual abuse from the age of 7 to 19. by many men, not all at once. i just turned 25 and am still finding myself lost every once in a while. it's very difficult for my husband to deal with me on those days. i have good days, bad days, and then there's the worse days. to the point that i just want to stop the fight and end it for good. but then i see my husbands face and my childrens innocent eyes and i come back to life and know it does and will get better; in time. time heals all. trust me i know. pray about your pain and the nightmares, God is there with you always. i'm here too.
 
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February 12, 2006, 8:10 pm PST

What questions?

Quote From: tacdgb

My thoughts are for you to keep on trying until you find the right one.  Ask alot of questions.  I would start by talking to them on the phone with 1 phone call.  Check them out to see if you can trust them.  Keep hunting until you are happy with one.  You are worth it.  I know how hard the hunt it.  I went to counseling for 20 years until I found the right one.  Your search may not take as long, but keep trying.  I know that the healing is worth the hunt.  God Bless you.
What questions do I ask? ...And, on a slightly different note... how do I help my boyfriend understand the flashbacks aren't his fault?
 
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February 12, 2006, 8:39 pm PST

I know the pain

 I was sexually molested as a child by my step grandfather (Poppas) & my step dad.

I did speak to my Poppas once only because my grandmother wanted me to say hello to him. My grandmother thinks I made the whole thing up. I didn't go alone or stay long. I went to see my grandmother to show her my son after he was born & before we moved out of town.
She did ask me if I had anything to say to Poppas and I said no. She said what about an apology and I told no I don't have anything to say. Then she said I would invite you in but I wouldn't apologize. I then left.

As for my step dad, he only kissed me funny once and he was drunk. When he went to court he say he was guilty of what happened. I'll admit that if my step dad apologized to me for his actions I would forgive him. But my Poppas I will never forgive, even though it's against my religous beliefs to love thy enemy.
 
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February 12, 2006, 9:00 pm PST

Childhood Sexual Abuse

Quote From: dragonmom4

i too am a survivor of sexual abuse from the age of 7 to 19. by many men, not all at once. i just turned 25 and am still finding myself lost every once in a while. it's very difficult for my husband to deal with me on those days. i have good days, bad days, and then there's the worse days. to the point that i just want to stop the fight and end it for good. but then i see my husbands face and my childrens innocent eyes and i come back to life and know it does and will get better; in time. time heals all. trust me i know. pray about your pain and the nightmares, God is there with you always. i'm here too.
 Your right it does get better I am also a victim  my story isn't as terrible as the people I have  read about on this messageboard butI was molested  by my mother's best friends son and nothing was ever done about in fact it was the most embaressing thing that happend to me I mean what happend afterward  Iwas about 4 or 5 my mother hadjust remarried a man andwhen it happend she made me stand  in front of her andmynew step dad and tell them what happend even though I was so young I remember feeling very uncomfrontable and scared nothing was ever done about it in fact I never had the chance to confronthim becausewemovedaway soon after that andhedied when I got older of some sudden desease or tumor and the sad thing was when he was dieing my mother cameto me andtoldmelikeI wassupposed to care as ifhe never did what hedid to my sister and I but I am a firm believer that god don't like ugly and everythinghappens for a reason my step father whobeatmy sister nd I also died from cancer suddenly  I hate to wishbad on people  and I know god doesn't punish on one person be half but it helps to know sometimes people get what they diserve butthe reason I am responding to you is becauseabout 10 yrs ago Imet a man I fell in love with and because I didn'tthink about everything thathappend to me as Iwas growingup it was strange that when I foundreal love and began totrust it all came rushingback to me I would have nighsts where Icried screamed and he would hold me Inever ever letanyone getthat close to me before let anyoneknow what happend to me  but when I didit hurt butI got better the night mares stopped andIchanged mylifeforhim  andnow I havechildren and my familyisn't scared toanswer the phone thinking it's thepolice calling to say I am dead because before that I was on a distructive path now don't get me wrong this isn't a cinderella story because we have our problems but Iwanted you to know it does get better ... Have faith andlet your husband in Love is thebest healer
 
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February 12, 2006, 9:19 pm PST

Movin on

I have survived abuse as a child, I had 2 sisters and two brothers now I have one of each, I am a half sister to my siblings. I am the youngest, their father was an addicted gambler and my mother left him in the year before I was born. She met my father who flew the coop as soon as he found out she was pregnant, so there she was with 5 kids in 1967. She met a man when I was about one, this man was a horror of a human, by the time I was nine I had been hospitalized over 30 times with fractors etc. We moved into his house we were not aloud to step on his front room floor or furntiure, we had to sit on the kitchen floor to watch tv, he threw our beds in the back yard, we lit fires in garbage tins, I got a job after being busted for stealing, there I slept and got food, My brother well he met a man that taught him how to make alot of money, and he did, he got us all a nice place and we all moved in, he was 16. It was a bit hard because of the life he was into, there was alot of drugs and guns and sometimes some folk I was not so keen of, and a bit afraid of, so I slept with a bat to fight of the druged up drunks. All was swell untill the day the door flew of the hinges and the swat team layed every one out, they shot one guy in our yard. My brother was in the wrong place because there at that time 16 was adult age so off to jail he went, my mom didn't know that one of the persons coming to home had raped myself and my sister, after the whole take down shoot out and rape she tried to kill herself and ended up in a coma, a month later he took me, him and his wife. For eight and a half years I was confined sold, tortued, raped then I had a child and that gave me a good reason to go on, so again I tried and I got away. I have done ok, I am no saint, but I am no criminal or bad guy. I have never married, I just relized this, in fact I have never been in a real long term rtelationship and have no desire to or for men, so I thought maybe I am gay, after giving that thought I am not gay, so what am I. Does it matter, I would like to marry one day, I would make a good wife because I would be a good friend, however I need to find why I have not tried this , I haven;t even gone so far as to try and screw up, I just ruled it out altogether. Before jumpimg into anything I want to make sure I have this figured out, I am iffy about sex, I can however it has to be really secure. I don't mean he has to have a house, a good job not that type of secure, I just have to really trust him, problem is out side of me when it comes to me I don't trust anyone.   I am not into controlling others that is far to time consuming, I am into making complete sure no part of my life is at all a risk. I am that dude in apy it forward, I am orderly, I am in complete control of me, at least I think I am, I want to relax, I don't want to be the guard on the top of the tower anymore. I want to know what it is like to be truly happy. I am happy in some ways, but I am fully aware I have lost alot. I am no fool I relize what has been done. Where I was confined he was absolute loon, she was an idiot. He was into weird religions, I had to sit his way, walk his way, look his way, the slightest thing I did wrong, such as sit wrong and I beat, sometimes really really bad, I tried to escape amny times, he shot me once, he was convicted to 22 years she was not because they felt she was made to do it, she made a deal and testified, she was his helper, she did not sexually abuse us, there were others but she would have sex with the men that came for us kids and her husband in front of us, she was very messed up. There was 4 of us, one was their daughter, another strange girl to them myself and a boy. The boy died while we were there, we all got ahold of some drugs used on animals and the 4 of us ate them all. The boy died, the other girl died before trial of a overdose, there daughter had a break down and spent years in a hospital but in 2003 ended her life. He is now a free man. I would like to be to, suggestions on material to help me understand the outcome of confinement like this. How do I relax and join the easy living? I just want to be calm not so wide awake on guard, any suggestions?  

 
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February 12, 2006, 9:33 pm PST

Childhood Sexual Abuse

I am a victim of sexual abuse. I was molested by my aunt's boyfriend. My aunt and grandmother were clueless at the times the molestation took place (I guess because they never said anything). His name was Alex. He died some years back.  I was grown when I confronted my aunt about the molestation. She denied it ever happened. She told me about Alex being in prison for a crime he did not commit. I told her it was justice for what he done to me. When I think back on the incidents, the scent of his cologne is very vivid. I can smell it. After the molestation, I begin to rock my head back and forth. My mother did not know what was wrong with me. She just thought I had a nervous condition. I have two children. I know if something like this happens to them it would crush me. No child should ever have to go through  this pain. I could not be responsible for what I would do to anyone who tries to molest my children. I can't bear the thought of being violated myself so I definitely could not bear it if it happened to any of my children. The scars of molestation will always be with me, but I think I have dealt with it the best way I know how. What happened to me has made me more aware of several things that hopefully can help me in raising my children and ensuring that what happened to me does not happen to them.
 
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February 12, 2006, 9:34 pm PST

I am a survivor also

I was abused my  step-father from the age of 8-18. I used to fight him all the time. I also used him for things. I thought you wanna play this stinkin' game, ok let's play. So, everytime he did something he always bought me something or gave me money to keep me quiet. I didn't really know back then that I was using him but I figured it was a payback for what he was doing.  I tried to tell my Mom but she just wasn't getting the clues. ( the fights, saying to not leave me alone with him) Even though he was a drunk that still was no excuse for what he did.  I recently got married and getting intimate is really hard at times. So to cope with it I became a drinker as well. FInally I quit about 6 yrs. ago but I just quiver when I even think ofg him or even say his name.  I so want to just hear him admit what he did and that he was sorry for what he did. That  would help me get through things better.  Unfortunatly I don't think he will ever admit it or even say that he is sorry.  I am 38 now and I still am suffering from what he did.  I have found that writing helps. I recently wrote hima letter to let him know what he did and how it affected me in my life and get this, his wife read it and didn't give it to him at all even though it was adressed to him only.  She was the one that raised me but it wasn't until 1995 that I found out that I was adopted. Since then I have found my birth mother and she had no idea that I went through that.  The one that raised me also abused me Mentally, emotionally, & Physically. When it wasn't him it was her and vice versa. I do know that if it wasn't for GOD that I wouldn't be alive today period.  Not only am I a survivor of this but a survivor of Operation Desert Shield/Storm and while I was there, Those two were taking care of my new born son. I had absolutley no choice in the matter.  Because of them, I fins it very hard to get close to anybody. I Isolate alot.  I finally did tell her and she didn't believe me because it had been so many years since. Who makes that crap up? Not me! 
 
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February 13, 2006, 4:57 am PST

Quote

Quote From: myslynn

I was so afraid i would get up this morning and find no reply to my message ,so thank you its bittersweet to know that I am not alone .I AM sorry u went through what u did ,I  believe that everyone elses problems or wants were far more important then mine, think I just more than anything wanted some one to understand what i went through and just tell me how terrible it was and give me a big hug .and show me how to get on with it .howreal love can be .unconditional ..but people ive tried to confide in, iether feel sorry for me, or are disgusted or dont know how to act .so i keep it inside .a walled off emotion ,even to myself at times . i cannot form real attachements to men as i have an inherant distrust and i alweays have secrets . 

i am very independant and have been used  , as i am such a people pleaser trying to buy love with my body or services . so the last few years ive really tried to stand up for myself more and am re evaluating the people in my life and i find as i pull in what they want from me, they dont call so much ..male and female .. when i stopped being avilable for taxi service that person stopped calling etc. I still have a couple of close people but i still feel im deprived socially ..how does a 45 yr old woman get over herself long enuff to get happy ..geesh ..oh yeah and due to my typo i made a mistake my son is 13 not 3 lol thank god .. ..and yes the writing does help , and also on the night i cant sleep i read dr phils page .life strategies.it eases the anxiety attacks  somewhat and gets me focused .on a goal although its a lot easier to say thrn do that stuff .. without support at least..so thx again.L 

like you i used to be a people pleaser with my body it took me a long time to learn that it wasn't my fault & stopped pleasing everybody who i ran into. After my divorce i didn't sleep with anyone for about 7 years started meditating witch helped me a lot, then started doing vollunter work & found i really loved it the manager thinks i'm a real nutter some days because i'm the only 1 in the shop that try's the wigs on & dresses in the most daggest clothes i can find, but iv'e found some real friends there that i can rely on no matter what.  Just remember your the most important person the world no matter what anyone else thinks of you,  i don't waste my time on most people only the ones that are important to me, it's not what i can get out off them it's what we can do together that counts, i try to learn somthing new every day, it seems to make my day interesting.  so keep up the good work
 
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February 13, 2006, 7:34 am PST

Wow!

This board has been moving like lightening.  I have pulled myself out of the dark cloud I was in and thought I'd check in here and am awe-struck by the number of posters.  I am so sorry to see so many hurting.  I am feeling much stronger than I have been over the last 2 weeks and so when I have time I will try to share some strength.  That seems to be the way things work here.  We are all struggling because of the terrible things that happened to us and sometimes we each see a piece of the answer to getting past it that we can share.  This is a great place to get understanding and support especially when it seems no one else in our lives gets it.   

  

Christy, I am so glad things are brighter for you and that your husband is more of a partner with you now.  MJ & Christy, thank you for your thoughts and encouragement.  I have needed a lot lately.  My husband & I came together on things some this weekend and so I am more hopeful that he might be a better supporter.  I am doing better and it sounds like you 2 are, too.  MJ, how was the move?  Are you settled yet? 

  

I can't stay on for much of today, but will try to post soon.  Gotta go.   

 

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