Quote from: natureluvr on May 27, 2024, 03:58:56 PMI'm feeling quite frustrated by the fact that CPTSD and adult survivors of abuse, and even abused children, are so seldom talked about or supported. I hear about PTSD from war, natural disasters, etc. People who have physical ailments seem to get a lot of attention and support. It feels to me like this is such a taboo subject. In the past, I've tried to talk about it with other people, and mostly gotten dismissed, or shamed, or guilt tripped into silence, so now I only talk about it here, and with my husband.
My experience has been that people don't want to know about something they may actually be doing. It's easier to look at CPTSD or PTSD caused by war, especially the other side of the world or a few generations ago, or caused by natural disasters than to look at something that maybe someone you care about potentially did. In the past I've been asked what CSA was in my family. Friends would consider it and then come back and say they didn't think that was CSA because some of it was done in their FOO and it hadn't damaged them... Or I was asked about the relationship between me and B1 when we were children and the response would be: "that's normal, all brothers do that" Because theirs did? Or what? When is something abuse, when is it not? I have no doubt about the CSA in my FOO but it's hard to explain it and prove it to somebody who can't pick up on the clues my body sends out (freezing, numbing etc).
During war or natural disasters you can blame some sort of higher power or mankind as a whole whereas in interpersonal abuse there are individual people involved. There were adults who saw/sensed stuff and alerted my parents but I'm sure they'd have been shocked if I'd tried to say what was really going on, like the CSA I sensed but had no words for. I don't think they would have believed me. You don't want to think that one of your best friends or an in-law is capable of stuff like that. But that was all a few decades ago. My friends' reactions aren't, they've been in the past 10-15 years. Some are no longer friends.
"Apparently" it's human nature to protect people being criticised by others, said a T to me over 20 years ago so that's why friends would end up sticking up for e.g. my parents or other people I was having trouble with. I'm not sure why it is apparently NOT human nature to stand up for somebody actually being abused, except that people don't want to interfere etc. btw that T from over 20 years ago did do a lot of psychological harm to me.
No, you're definitely not alone with this natureluvr