G'day, I'm currently trying to dismantle some childhood trauma. The
depression from this if left unchecked, leaves me unwilling to get out
of bed or eat. I finally addressed the fact that in my first year of
primary school, I was sexually assaulted r...
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G'day, I'm currently trying to dismantle some childhood trauma. The
depression from this if left unchecked, leaves me unwilling to get out
of bed or eat. I finally addressed the fact that in my first year of
primary school, I was sexually assaulted repeatedly for several months
by the kids in grade six when I'd go to the bathroom. There were five of
them, and they ended up getting expelled for their little "game".
Instead of therapy, my mum just taught me to be afraid of strangers,
that attraction was sinful and shameful, and that women all want to take
everything you have and leave. These days she also says the world is
flat, and Mars doesn’t exist because NASA made it up. I love her, but
she's left me with a bit of trouble to deal with. Over the past few
years, I've built this helpful routine. Partly on what I found on the
beyond blue website actually: 1. Daily gym 2. LOTS of home cooking 3.
Talk to friends and family, and asking for help 4. Projects I can
discuss and be proud of 5. Having lots of guests over, to stay social 6.
Journal a few times a week After reading a book on cognitive behavioural
therapy last year, I decided to acclimatise myself the intimate side of
life. It's working, and I'm more confident and fluent in conversations.
My painful awkwardness is vanishing, and I can make flirty jokes and use
public restrooms without feeling afraid. But as my work is simple
labour, my mind wanders, and I switch from happy hope, to blind rage to
disdain and loathing and back to pride and gratitude for those I am
close to. Work is a sort of blast furnace of self-reflection and my
performance is suffering to the point where I am at risk of being let
go. My family and friends have been mentioning I'm not myself too. I've
been tampering with substance abuse, as I'm desperate to overcome this.
Losing 25kg however, really helped me stop hating myself. I don't know
what to do next.