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Sexual Assault Need Some Help Here!! Is It Possible To Get Over Abuse?

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I am feeling really low at the moment, and I just need to know if it is even possible to get over sexual abuse! I feel as though I will always feel like this guilty, dirty, tainted and violated. I don't think I can cope like this for much longer. I would really appreciate your views.:(
 
Yes. It is very much possible to 'get over'. Although it's not so much getting over, but breaking the silence, discussing your feelings around it, and changing the way you think. You clearly have a lot of negative self-beliefs, which need to become more positive. It can be done, though. Have a good read around the forum, particularly the 'story' and 'diary' sections, if it's not too triggering for you. This will show you how other members are trying to deal with those negative attitudes. The first thing you need to do is 'break the silence'. Try to write about what happened to you, or talk about it with a therapist. This will begin to unburden you of any secrets, which helps to relieve shame. It also helps if you can place blame correctly. We often think it's some how our fault. If you were abused or assaulted, it is not your fault. The abuser makes us feel guilty, and dirty. Sexual abuse/assault isn't about sex, it's about power. You need to find a way to regain your power, your strength. You can do it, it can be done, but it doesn't happen over night, and it's something you have to work at. Also accept that there will be ups and downs throughout the process. This is normal, just don't give up :)
 
It is something you can fight off, you just need to be consistent even when you're going through rough patches. Keep the faith.
[DLMURL]http://sexabuse.ptsdforum.org/community/threads/finding-peace-with-having-been-sexually-abused.133/[/DLMURL]
 
You don't "get over" trauma, but instead you find resolution to it, which includes resolution to the negative emotion. The negative feelings are negative emotion. The memories are their, they are your past now... and its the work you do on finding that resolve to clearly isolate those negative emotions to being your past. You can't forget them, you can't ignore them, as they don't go away, but you can remove them for the most part to regain positive feelings, a positive life.
 
Hi HIWGB. I have 'gotten over' sexual abuse. What works for you may be different than what worked for me but the most important thing IMHO is that you 'want' to deal with it. I know what has happened to me in the past and I have found acceptance with it. I do not agree, nor condone, nor feeling myself deserving of anything which 'happened' to me but it did happen and nothing I can do will change that.

How I did change it was the way I thought about it, how I placed the blame to where it belonged (on the abuser) and how I refused to accept the 'what if' thoughts as while I would react differently now, I know I did the best I could with what information and knowledge I had at the time.

Sexual abuse is not a sentence despite the immense feelings which result such as violation, trust issues, faith, feeling dirty, loss of self esteem and so on. It is an event which has occurred and now your journey is to travel through the resulting effects and find a way to heal yourself. Fundamentally your brain comes into play as it is often the 'thinking techniques and attitudes' which can hold a person back.

I believe in you and that you can get through this. Now you have to work out how to change your interpretation of what happened and how it changed you. It has greatly changed your thinking which is apparent so now my suggestion would to challenge your own thoughts and think about how much suffering you are now incurring while no longer at your abuser's hands. Do you want this person to continue to hold your power or are you willing to fight to get it back?
 
I don't think that you can ever "get over it" in the sense that your life can become how it should have been, had it never have happened. But I do know that you can get to a point where you can think about the abuse and accept and handle it without having physical or emotional upset, without the self-blame and self-hatred. For the most part that is where I am at. I do know that it is possible for the flashbacks, panic attacks, migraines, tears, sleep disorders and anxiety to stop or to learn how to handle them so that they happen increasing less often. Ok I'm not quite there but not far off. If I can do it then there's no reason why others cant in time.
 
I don't think that you can ever "get over it" in the sense that your life can become how it should have been, had it never have happened.

While I agree in principle with Cruosoe's post above - I also believe there is no certainty to how our lives "should have been" as life is dependent on so many variables, some of which we can't control or predict.
 
It always comes up in your life no matter what you do. I tried to keep it a secret, it didn't work. My dad figured it out. He had asked when I was little but I didn't know that what happened was abuse. I knew something was wrong when my mom told me what sex was when I was in the 3rd grade.
 
It always comes up in your life no matter what you do. I tried to keep it a secret

By keeping a secret which is hurting you it causes you to act in manners which are not normal for you. It's not the abuse that keeps coming up; it's the differences in you due to you trying to hide what happened. IMHO you are 'technically' trying to live a lie and that only goes so far in life as that normally eats you up from the inside out.
 
By keeping a secret which is hurting you it causes you to act in manners which are not normal for you. It's not the abuse that keeps coming up; it's the differences in you due to you trying to hide what happened. IMHO you are 'technically' trying to live a lie and that only goes so far in life as that normally eats you up from the inside out.

Thank you Nicolette that makes sense just not sure how to get out of this cycle.
 
Good luck hopeit willgetbetter.....it's not easy but I believe you can work your way through it to find the right answer for you.
 
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