Made Abuse Story Worse

I was a neglected child.  No caring parent.  Some physical abuse but treated as nothing.  I was nothing. I was hit, not fed properly, never touched. No I love yous or encouragement In highschool I reached out to say I was abused but it got exaggerated.  I found the only way to be heard was to agree when asked if I was being sexually abused. I was removed by the protective services. I was abused but not this way. I have nobody and not sure if I did this to myself or? Family chooses not to believe or support. So i haven’t had family since leaving 25 years ago  My family was not a good unit with all sibling leaving in their teens to runaway from home. I just feel like a bad person even though I know the place was awful.  It was pure neglect and feeling unloved.  I thought in telling I would get this but it doesn’t work that way.  Nobody loves me
I feel lost and confused.  I feel unsure of who I am.  I did come from an abusive home but nobody had been listening when I only spoke of the yelling and neglect and the hitting. Nobody wanted to help.  They said it was awful but I was alone. I wanted someone to make it stop. I needed someone to care for me.  I wanted a real family.
Am I mentally ill for doing this?  I am very rational and I know it was wrong but in the end it didn’t matter anyways. (From Canada)

A:  Abuse is abuse — and you did what you needed to do to get yourself out of there. Sadly, the protective systems have huge gaps and problems, and when you weren’t being listened to you spoke to them in a language that got you away from people who were, indeed, abusive.

I think it would be time to have both individual and group therapy. I know this may sound daunting, but the truth is the family you were born into didn’t have the skills to care for your properly. The cornerstone of group therapy is the correction of the initial family dynamics. I would look for a good therapist in your area that specializes in group therapy. They will be familiar with this process and help you use the group to rebuild your faith in people, and yourself.

Wishing you patience and peace,
Dr. Dan
Proof Positive Blog @ PsychCentral

 

from Ask the Therapist http://ift.tt/2eOQZeD
via https://ifttt.com/ IFTTT