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things I wrote as a child

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kiwibird

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This is my first post on here, and I'm starting with something easy (not too confronting), but I'm curious to know whether these are things others relate to.
I had difficult childhood, although I am sure it wasn't the worst. At times I was terrified of my parents, but when I was about nine and a teacher at school told us to write a list of what we were afraid of, I wrote a list of every scary fantasy figure I could think of (giants, trolls etc.) and not a single real thing. I knew those things weren't real, and I remember sensing that there was something odd about what I chose to write, but I couldn't think clearly about why it was odd.
Later, when I was about 17, I decided it would be fun to write an autobiography, so I wrote about four exercise books. It was light and humorous. I had led a very limited life. I went to a girls' school and didn't know any boys and had never been on a date. But despite having little else to write about, I didn't mention my family at all. Again I remember feeling that it was a little odd but not quite being able to explain it.
I was in a family that hid the abuse even from itself and pretended everything was normal.
 
when I was about nine and a teacher at school told us to write a list of what we were afraid of, I wrote a list of every scary fantasy figure I could think of (giants, trolls etc.) and not a single real thing. I knew those things weren't real, and I remember sensing that there was something odd about what I chose to write, but I couldn't think clearly about why it was odd.
This is a very common stress-coping response for pre-adolescent kids. Some scholars would say it's why there are such things as fairy tales and fables. Children often need to project their fears and anxieties onto imaginary creatures - especially when it comes to fear about their guardians. It would be too emotionally complicated for a child to write about being afraid of their parents, because everything in the world is telling them that parents are the ones to be trusted.

This is something that children often do unconsciously, without being aware of exactly what they are avoiding. That explains why you may have thought it odd at the time, but weren't clear on why it was odd.
I was in a family that hid the abuse even from itself and pretended everything was normal.
It would make sense that you internalized that avoidance and applied it throughout your development.
 
This is a very common stress-coping response for pre-adolescent kids. Some scholars would say it's why there are such things as fairy tales and fables. Children often need to project their fears and anxieties onto imaginary creatures - especially when it comes to fear about their guardians. It would be too emotionally complicated for a child to write about being afraid of their parents, because everything in the world is telling them that parents are the ones to be trusted.

This is something that children often do unconsciously, without being aware of exactly what they are avoiding. That explains why you may have thought it odd at the time, but weren't clear on why it was odd.

It would make sense that you internalized that avoidance and applied it throughout your development.
Thanks. That's interesting. Would something like that be enough to alert teachers these days to the possibility that something was wrong?
 
Would something like that be enough to alert teachers these days to the possibility that something was wrong
These days - eh, possibly. It would depend very much on the teacher, the school, and the rest of the child's conduct and the family's conduct. If there were a pattern of behavior - for example, the child also putting monsters into every drawing they do for art class, or acting out, or just having trouble functioning inn general -then yeah, it'd be more likely for a teacher to act. But only 'more likely', not at all guaranteed.

Side note: this is why (IMO) teaching kids at a young age about what mental health is, in very broad terms, matters. They stand a better chance of being able to talk about abuse, anxiety, depression, etc. if they've been given/taught the words for those concepts. If they don't know the words, they won't be able to tell anyone what's happening or what they are feeling.
 
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