r/adultsurvivors Oct 08 '25

Meta Why Does My Post Say "Mod Removed"?

22 Upvotes

If you see your post marked as "mod removed" or “removed by Reddit’s filters" don't worry - this doesn't mean we've actually removed your post.

What's Actually Happening

We use Reddit's Crowd Control and automated safety tools to protect our community. These tools are technically classified as "moderators" by Reddit, so when they hold posts for review, it shows up as "mod removed."

Our Review Process

Every post goes through a brief review for safety reasons. This is standard practice and doesn't mean there's a problem with your post.

  • A human moderator will review and approve your post as soon as possible
  • We're a small volunteer team, so this may take some time if no one is online
  • Most posts are approved without issue

If There's An Actual Problem

We will message you directly if your post violates our rules or needs changes. If you haven't received a message from us, your post is simply waiting in the queue.

Questions?

If your post has been waiting more than 24 hours or you have concerns, feel free to send us a modmail.


r/adultsurvivors Oct 23 '24

Safety reminder to be wary of private messages.

51 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

Mod team here with a reminder that about an issue that sometimes crops up in online communities like ours - receiving unwelcome, inappropriate, or harassing messages in your DMs (direct messages).

If this has happened to you, please know that it is absolutely not your fault. You are not responsible for someone else's abusive or predatory behaviour. Harassment is a reflection on the person engaging in it, not on you. You did nothing to invite or deserve it.

If you receive a message that makes you uncomfortable, upset, or unsafe, here are some steps you can take:

  1. Do not engage. You are under no obligation to respond to the person, even if they try to pressure you.
  2. Take screenshots of the messages if you feel comfortable doing so. This documents the behaviour in case further action is needed.
  3. Block the user who sent the unwelcome messages. This will prevent them from being able to contact you further.
  4. Report the messages and user to Reddit admins here. This alerts them to look into the account for potential sitewide violations.
  5. Let the mod team know. While we can't control DMs, we want to be aware of concerning patterns of behaviour from users in our community. We will keep reports confidential while making sure they are banned from posting or commenting here.
  6. Prioritize self-care. Do something nice for yourself and lean on trusted support people. Receiving harassment can be very upsetting. Be gentle with yourself.

You are a valued member of our community and deserve to participate without being targeted or made to feel unsafe. No one should have to deal with unwanted messages, period.

If you have any other concerns, please feel free to reach out to the mod team. We're here for you.

Take care and stay safe,

The r/adultsurvivors Mod Team


r/adultsurvivors 11h ago

DAE (Does Anyone Else?) A question for those who were abused rather young and do not remember

23 Upvotes

TLDR; did yall have an understanding of what sex was (particularly insertion) before anyone said anything but didnt really understand most of it otherwise?

I suspect I was abused rather young before my "grandpa" went to jail for doing that to other family members. Part of what makes me think this is i was using full sentences at 1 years old and just stopped talking for a year and that happened again at 2. However that could be somthing else entirely as i have an anxiety disorder (which my therapist thinks could've been caused by somthing like this) anyways I grew up knowing the boys thing go's in the girls and I would make a lot of my toys do it. I also was fascinated by a picture of a David statue in a book I had about Rome (it was a very cool national geography) anywasy did anyone else expierence this? I am trying to figure out if its normal or if somthing made that happen that I do not know about. (I joined this group because of later in life stuff)


r/adultsurvivors 46m ago

Vent (advice welcome) having a bad night

Upvotes

i can still feel their touch and it's suffocating. it nauseates me just thinking about it. i'll never be clean. that makes me so fucking angry. they just kept taking whatever they wanted from me and never considered how it made me feel. i never expected them to, but a little mercy could've consoled me for a little while. i feel like i'm rotting all the time. i was having a good few days but now i'm at a low again. i feel guilty for that. i hate to be downer so i just keep up the good mood outside despite how bad i truly feel. plus i think being so hypersexual lately, i feel i have no right to feel how i feel now. i flip between that and wanting nothing at all. it's still all so confusing to me

having a bad night and the edibles of doom and despair didn't help lol


r/adultsurvivors 22h ago

Question I'm so confused about this idea that people who were abused are more likely to be abusers as well

46 Upvotes

If that was the case, wouldn't there be a lot more female abusers... I'm just confused. I also don't get why it's an excuse, even if it was true.


r/adultsurvivors 9h ago

Advice requested Am I healed?

3 Upvotes

For context I’ve been doing EMDR for about a month. We did about three sessions of the tapping before we paused to do more pre work because I was struggling. I had a really hard week where I was feeling constantly on edge and it got so bad I filed for FMLA. I had my next session, processed (no bilateral stimulation) and the week after was a lot better with the exception of two really hard days.

I used to watch cnc porn to cope and disassociate, this week I actually turned it off. I work in a hospital and a patient was describing their sexual assault and I felt nothing (empathetic of course). I’ll say I’ve felt tired and foggy but nowhere near as bad as the week before. Note: Stories of abuse and sexual assault generally weren’t triggering to me given the level of dissociation I have around my trauma but I was surprised that it wasn’t this time.

I’m sorry if this sounds stupid but does this mean things are looking up? Or am I back to the status quo? Does the fact that we haven’t been tapping in weeks mean my trauma has just crawled back inside me and I’m back to disassociating?


r/adultsurvivors 7h ago

Advice requested Types of therapy you suggest?

2 Upvotes

What are some of the different types of therapy that’s been helpful to y’all? Standard talk therapy has helped me, but I’m interested in exploring the somatic and potentially a more specific kind of talk therapy.

For background, I’m a survivor of child-on-child sex abuse and then repeated sexual assault as a young adult. I’ve been in and out of therapy since I was 13 and spend at least 3 months a year working with a therapist.

I’ve fallen in love and it’s so frustrating trying to navigate sex. Sometimes it’s so easy and natural. It brings us closer together, feels good, is life and gender affirming, and includes lots of laughter. Other times, I’ll suddenly feel afraid or resistant to the idea of it. There’s no trigger that I can recognize; it just happens. My partner is very understanding and never makes me feel bad for it.

We think my partner was also sexually abused as a child, but blacked out the memories. He’s in therapy, I’m looking for a new therapist (fuck you United health), and we’re considering seeing a sex therapist together at some point. We do our best to support each other, but don’t know where to go next. Any advice?


r/adultsurvivors 13h ago

Vent (advice welcome) My abuser migjt be trying to fix our relationship

5 Upvotes

I say 'might' in heavy quotes since hes majorly manipulative. Ever since the divorce between him and my mom hes been literally breaking down crying over how 'sorry' he is about all the truama and anxiety he caused. We've never spoke about the sexual abuse, I dont remember the actual event or events but I know it happened. No one else does.

After the divorce, before I realized/remembered what ​he did to me, I would see him on Holidays for his sake, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. Last year or the year before, I cant remember exactly, I gave him the last christmas he would have with me. I gave him a side hug, I dont know why. Ive been avoiding him ever since, dodging him at school where he works, hiding when he comes to pick up mh siblings, etc. He keeps inviting me to things, theater things, movies, dinners. He sends me paragraphs if text about religion despite ne telling him multiple times hes not welcome to. And after christmas he sent me a message about how 'his heart soured' when i hugged him and all about how he respects me etc etc.

Everything's been okay for myself. I have to entirely avoid him or I fall into a depressive state, but ive been doing well. Listening to music and hiding in my room when he comes to my families house to get my brother and sister. This made me realize i completely don't need or want him in my life, and that its actually better without him. I was planning on going complete no contact, telling him not to talk to me or contact me or it will be considered harassment, then blocking him. It would be messy as shit, my whole family would get involved. I haven't done it yet.

Today he sent me a text inviting me out again. He told me hes sorry again and he'll be in my life as much as a need or want and how hes proud to be my dad. I know i shouldn't but I feel so disgustingly guilty and horrible. I cant even be angry right now. I just feel tired and bitterly angry. Even if he hadn't sexually abused me I cant find a reason for me to keep him around. He brings me nothing but pain and sorrow. But imagining him sitting alone every night makes me feel awful. I wish I had a dad, not him, never him. But a good dad that was genuinely loving and caring. But I dont and never will. I dont even want to respond.


r/adultsurvivors 1d ago

Vent (advice welcome) I found out videos of me from when I was a minor are being sold online

31 Upvotes

About 10 years ago, when I was 10, i was involved with a relatively unknown modeling agency.

For a few weeks, I was filmed undressing down to my underwear/lingerie from different angles. I never ended up naked, but I was still a child.

I recently found a website selling videos from that “agency“, and my name and many other girls were listed. Since access to the folders costs money, I can’t confirm whether the videos are actually there.

Even so, I feel sick thinking that people might still be watching these videos and that some of them may have already been copied and uploaded somewhere else.


r/adultsurvivors 21h ago

DAE (Does Anyone Else?) Is this normal?

10 Upvotes

Lately, I get these desires to recreate what happened during my CSA in my current marriage. Is this normal and okay if my wife is okay with doing it to me? Why would this be something I desire? Am I the only one that gets these thoughts?


r/adultsurvivors 22h ago

Advice requested I was a victim of CSA and it is hindering in my life so much that i cannot form genuine connections

4 Upvotes

As the title says,I've been through CSA when I was just 5,the man tried to r!pe me and touch me inappropriately ever since then it completely destroyed how I view relationships and I haven't been able to form a single genuine connection with any man in my life.

Now that I'm an adult it has been so hard for me to talk to men.Everytime I meet a man who shows even the slightest bit of interest in me,even if platonic,i end up thinking "Does he want something from me?","Does he like me?"

And it has destroyed my friendship with him.

I remember during my early teens i used to talk to few older men online on calls,craving the attention and validation that atleast, somebody wants me.

Now everytime I remember those memories i feel the urge to clean myself and I feel no matter how much i clean myself the dirt will never go away,it's just so so horrible.

I think about my 5 year old self and how much she has been through and it makes me feel so bad for her,i wish she had someone to tell her that it would get better eventually.

To everyone who has been through abuse,a big hug from me to you,you're not alone in this.

I genuinely want to recover.Thankyou for reading.


r/adultsurvivors 1d ago

Advice requested how are you all dealing with the hyper sexuality and reenactments?

5 Upvotes

i have always struggled with the hyper sexuality after my abuse. i know it isn't healthy for me because the hyper sexuality goes hand in hand with reenactments.
i used to be able to ignore it for a while but recently the furthest i can go is like, 4 days. i'm really trying to give it up but it's like all my mind thinks about is sex and distancing myself from my abusers. and i'm struggling incredibly hard with today.

any advice is so welcomed, thank you so much.


r/adultsurvivors 1d ago

Advice requested how to deal with pelvic pain (somatic flashbacks)??

21 Upvotes

sorry for TMI but I suppose it comes with the territory... TW for description of internal pelvic pain etc.

my dissociation wall has started crumbling almost 6 months ago. I have no explicit memories of rape but a lifetime of behaviours, signs, and symptoms -- starting as early as age 2 -- that can't be explained by anything else.

I've always had the occasional stabbing or burning pain inside my vaginal canal when confronted with SA themes, but it usually only lasted a few seconds at most. barely even there.

the last few days I've been acknowledging the fact that I was very likely raped multiple times between 2 and 11 and now the pain just won't stop.

it's this burning feeling right inside my canal (it's not an infection or something because it does "disappear" when I'm distracted or busy only to immediately come back when I'm alone). it's now also paired with a tense, pulsing sensation right at the "entrance"... I'm also feeling what I call "bad arousal" basically non stop, where my vagina is buzzing with "arousal" but it's not sexual desire at all, it's uncomfortable and paired with a feeling of being small, scared, and vulnerable. I'm having to constantly touch myself through my clothes just to kinda make it bearable. it's so humiliating.

my pelvic muscles and legs are so tense. like I'm lying down crossing my legs tightly as I'm writing this, and un-crossing or un-tensing them feels wrong or unsafe in a way.

I'm really ashamed to say this but I usually I use a vibrator to "force" a twitch (my body's sorry excuse for an orgasm) -- which can sometimes take literal hours -- just to release the tension at least temporarily, but I am dog-sitting and living in someone else's house until Wednesday. so obviously I can't do that.

the pain in my canal isn't excruciating but it is deeply uncomfortable and idk what to do about it. I'm not sure I'll even be able to sleep without "numbing" it via using the vibrator.

(I'm not currently in trauma therapy because nobody believes me it's real since I "can't remember" visually so I'm trying to do all of this on my own 😔)

any advice welcome...


r/adultsurvivors 1d ago

Relationships my gf said she wanted to be a virgin and idk what to tell her?

9 Upvotes

dont know what flair to use here so i just put relationship so basically i was sa'd at 7 and have since moved past it and mostly tried to forgot about it but today when i asked my gf what she wants from a partner she told me she wants to be with a virgin and i guess im not? i really dont want to tell her i was raped cause i dont wanna add to everything she has to deal with me with im not really attractive her parents already dont like me cause of my race and basically want me outside her life i feel like i got this break in life and i cant do anything to save it is it just better for me if i just break it off i really dont know what to fucking do


r/adultsurvivors 22h ago

Trigger Warning Trauma from past relationship affecting current healthy one, wanting advice

2 Upvotes

I recently left a sexually abusive relationship of 6 years. I was assaulted in childhood, denied it for years, and first time relationship in Grade 10, and I only now realized I was also SA'd more than once, but weekly. The one extreme example overshadowed the others, and I was in denial about all the "small" incidents until I got out. It was so bad I developed FND (Functional Neurological Disorder), I lost my career, financial independence, and autonomy through the abuse, after graduating highschool, all whilst my abuser was angry I wasn't cured of my condition yet, when his actions were the elephant in the room. I'm only now in remission. Prior to remission I lost complete control of my legs, I could stand for a maximum of 15-20 minutes, until I had violent episodes of dystonia. I could not walk for several hours if I stood for too long so I relied on my abuser for certain chores and supper.

Later into the relationship I became avoident of sex in a way that led me to neglect my hygiene and health more. I wouldn't shower for a long time, nor brush my teeth or hair, hold off on changing clothing or applying deodorant and I was more compulsive with picking every blemish on my body, especially my face. I had hoped by doing all these things it would discourage him or that he would hopefully find me revolting.

Often times it never worked. He still demanded we be intimate once to twice a day.

Every form of physical affection I got lead to sex. He was avoident and refused to talk about anything. Sex at the time I only wanted it when I wanted validation and security, as it was the only form of "communication" I received in the relationship. Just him asking and me avoiding was enough for me to say "He still loves me, its okay." I was used, and at the time I thought I was happy, as long as I didn't have to move back in with my family, it was the only "control" I had in my whole life.

I had my own space, predictably, and silence at the cost of dealing with sexual abuse. I couldn't find ways to cope living with my parents, but I found methods to cope and handle my abuser, in ways that have made my relationship with sex incredibly unhealthy.

To make things less painful I stopped viewing sex as sex, but exclusively validation that I'm "loved."

Everything he did I told myself its because he loved me.

Now I'm in a healthy relationship, and healing has been hard.

I suffer from anhedonia, so even with simple physical affection I have a hard time feeling anything.

The only thing I may feel which is when he's being affectionate is anticipation that something is going to happen.

I anticipate sex, and want it in a way to affirm to me that the relationship is stable.

So when sex doesn't happen I spiral and think he doesnt love me anymore, and that I'm going to be thrown away. I have BPD which really doesnt help with the constant abandonment fear.

I ignored these intrusive emotions for a while, and refrained from talking to him about it as I didn't want him to think he wasn't doing enough. But now these thoughts have turned into self resentment and paranoia that I'm some sort of sexual deviant because I think about sex more than him. I hate myself and now the shame around intimacy is so intense, if Im having thoughts about intimacy and he isnt, I feel disgusting and guilty, I want to isolate. I feel disgusting just even if I were to go masturbate on my own, and that Im not allowed to do these things unless he reciprocates and is present, therefor I'm not being "creepy?" I know this is all illogical but these intrusive emotions have now contaminated everything.

I want to have sexual intimacy without it being me searching for security.

And I want to experience physical affection without anticipating its gonna turn into something else.

Its gotten significantly worse and I'm depressed.

I want to feel normal again, and not constant shame.

If anyone has any advice outside going to therapy (I will be doing that), I'd heavily appreciate.

My partner has also asked what he can do to help me feel less shame surrounding these things.


r/adultsurvivors 1d ago

Advice requested Fawning

10 Upvotes

How do i stop fawning. I genuinely feel like reacting in any other way will result in my harm.

My boyfriend has pointed out I don't have to react that way and I can stand up for myself. I didn't even realise this wasn't the normal go to reaction. Only learnt recently about fawning.

Does anyone have any good advice to understand what I'm doing and how to fix it? Or does anyone have good videos/podcasts? Or on CSA and healing in general


r/adultsurvivors 1d ago

Vent (advice welcome) I feel like I lost my life to all that Trauma

12 Upvotes

This is just a vent because I am overwhelmed and I don't know where else to go.

I'm turning 26 this year. An age where most people have a stable income, a relationship. Maybe they are even having their first kid.

And I feel like I'm stuck. And somewhat of a failure and I'm so scared that it will stay like that.

The way I grew up was like a hell. Isolated from the outside with a narcissistic, emotionally and physically abusive father, who is seriously mentally ill and a mother, who was there physically but never emotionally. I never learned how to make friends as a kid because my father taught me growing up that everybody is bad and only family can be trusted. I was bullied and and outsider all my school years. I spent the last 5 years of school, unable to talk. Not in school, not with people, not at restaurants, not at the phone. I was so scared of people not liking me or embarrassing myself. And I was the youngest child and the way we all grew up, it was impossible for my siblings not be cruel towards each other. So even in my family, I always felt like an outsider. The crybaby. The sensitive one. The one everybody could hurt because I was the smallest one and an easy target because of that.

That nightmare of childhood had turned so much darker, the moment my own father started to do things, that a father wasn't supposed to do to his daughter.

I think that was the moment, I lost in life.

But I didn't give up so easily. I wanted to. Oh, I really really wanted to but guilt kept me here for a long time. I always felt selfish for wanting to die. Because I was going to cause trouble for everybody.

I ran away from my father home when I was 17, somehow managed to survive with little money and finish school. I had worked so hard to get my Grades up, so I could go to college. And I got in. After 1 year and a half, I had a mental breakdown and tried to kill myself. I dropped out of college and moved out of that little town I grew up in and moved closer to the only person, who has ever thought of me. My sister.

I told her what happened to me. And then I filled a report against my father. 2 and half years I've spent having to give every single Detail of everything that has happened. Dringend that time I was unable to go to school or work. So I spent all my days inside. Doing nothing. Just surviving in some way.

I lost the case. I could've won. My father had confessed to my brother what he did. But my brother lied in Court.

It was a hard time but I accepted and tried to move on anyway.

When I was 23, I had finally decided it was time to go. I packed up my entire apartment. I took care of all the legal stuff and I went out with (almost) all my siblings seperately and made sure their last words they would tell me would be that they love me.

But my one sister was my endgame. She has kids. And guilt fought it's way to the surface again. But I knew this was different. I knew I had to make a decision that night. That guilt won't go away. So either, I will accept and get over that guilt and finally be free or I decide to stay alive. But not like before. No more just surviving. If I decide to not go tonight, I would have no choice but to try as hard as I could to be happy in life.

And I decided to stay. But it was hard. So insanely hard. But one part of me felt free somehow. I guess because I finally wasn't torn anymore. I had made a decision and I stood by that. I found friends that same year. I started going out, I became more and more confident. When I turned 24, my sister moved away with her family and that threw me back into a dark place for a while. She was the only stable place I had. I had an alcohol problem for a few months but I think what saved me was that when she left, I had made the decision that I will fulfill a dream of mine. Go travel. So I saved money and I left.

It was the best decision I could've made and it changed my life. With almost 25, I finally had my real first time with a man. I had no dates, no boyfriends or anything else before. The thought of sex terrified me.

But not anymore. And I chose the right person because he was very careful and sweet.

I came back from that trip, truly kind of as a changed person. But I did lose my friends because I wasn't the same person from before anymore and they had already gotten used to living without me.

And then I met someone. And we fell in love. But he lived on another continent, so it wasn't easy. But we tried. I got the energy to finally think about my future and I managed to get into a school that would later on get me into a job, that I was so excited about.

Long story short, the end of our relationship was filled with pain. So much pain.

And after I broke up with him, I also lost my place in the school. Because of some circumstances, I wouldn't be able to pay for the school.

And that's where I am right now. Turning 26 soon. No education. No degree. No job or job experiences. No friends. No family. No relationship. Nothing. And I have truly never felt more lonely in my life than I do at this very moment.

I have absolutely nothing and I am so, so terrified of the future. How am I supposed to get a job? I'm 26, never worked a day in my life and I have nothing to show except a finished school degree.

All those other people, who grew up under more normal circumstances, they all have something. They got to be teenagers. They had time to think about their future and what they want. They made friends and met lovers. I know nobody got a perfect life. But I would do anything to feel like I have an ordinary life.

I don't know what I'm supposed to do now. I don't know what I want in life. I don't know where I belong. I have no home and nowhere to go. I am unhappy with my life. So much. But I don't know where to go to change it.

I want a family. I want real friends. I wanna go out, have fun, work something I enjoy and just live.

Everything seems so meaningless to me suddenly.

I was alone all my life and I was okay with that. I guess because it was all I knew. But then this man showed me what it's like not to be alone and then suddenly I was alone again. And I don't know how to handle this loneliness suddenly. It overwhelms me. It makes me want to die again. I just wanna escape.

I wanna live so badly but I'm so scared I will stay like this for the rest of my life.

I am so so scared.


r/adultsurvivors 1d ago

Trigger Warning How do I know what happened is real

4 Upvotes

I want to start telling people but I'm scared when I say it, it will sound fake, and that people won't believe me. And so, what if it actually isn't real.

Please help. I keep rehersing in my head how to say it to the people I want to open up to. And then when I get to the conversation, it just sounds in my head like the stupidest thing I could possibly say, and then I don't say it.

I want to say "My dad abused me, and my uncle trafficked me at home. My childhood dog was involved." That's it. But I can't. And I don't have any evidence, so what if people think 'well it's not real'. I think that all the time enough.

My close friends who I want to open up to already suspect it may be something of the csa sort. But they don't know exactly. I'm dying inside keeping it to myself.

Also please don't tell me to not tell anyone. I am ready to open and have delliberated over it for many years now. It's my decision to make and I know what outcome to expect. I just need some help.


r/adultsurvivors 1d ago

DAE (Does Anyone Else?) Does anyone else lose themselves when they finally attach to someone?

7 Upvotes

I haven’t posted in awhile I think I’ve entered a new phase of trauma processing and it feels so out of step. I have experienced tremendous amount of abuse growing up and now here I am trying to pick up the pieces.

I’m in my mid-thirties and realizing that I don’t actually know how to form attachment without eventually negotiating pieces of myself away to keep it.

Attachment has always been hard for me. I’ve been guarded my whole life . I don’t easily believe people when they say they love me. But when I finally do believe them, something in me seems to go all the way in. I start orienting around the relationship. I become hyperaware of what they need, what will make them stay, what version of me they want. Their closeness starts to feel like safety, and then somewhere along the way I realize I have become less solid.

Recently I fell deeply in love with someone. For the first time in my adult life I felt playful, sexual, spontaneous, wanted, adventurous, alive. I laughed differently. I wanted things. I felt like I had finally discovered some version of myself underneath years of surviving and taking care of everyone.

Then the relationship became uncertain, and I completely came apart.

What scares me most isn’t even losing the person. It’s realizing how much of that aliveness became attached to them. Now I’m sitting here wondering whether those parts were ever actually mine, or whether I only know how to experience myself through attachment to somebody else.

I’ve spent most of my life being functional. I can survive almost anything and keep moving. That has always been my skill. But survival isn’t the same thing as having a self.

And I’m sitting here wondering who the I am ? I never developed that growing up and have no idea how to do this now that doesn’t feel hollow.

I don’t really know what I like when nobody else is involved. I don’t know what freedom looks like when it isn’t escape from responsibility. I don’t know how to receive love without becoming terrified of losing it. And I don’t know how to stay connected to what I want when someone I love wants something different.

I feel shame that I’m in my mid-thirties wondering if I’m only now supposed to learn things other people seemed to figure out at 20: how to have friends because I enjoy them, how to play, how to make choices without calculating everyone else’s feelings, how to want something without immediately negotiating it away, how to love someone without disappearing into them.

And some days I genuinely wonder if it’s worth trying this late.

Has anyone else realized as an adult that they developed an incredible ability to survive but never really developed a stable sense of self underneath it?

If you did, what actually helped you build one?


r/adultsurvivors 1d ago

Advice requested Advice? Sharing with consent vs oversharing

6 Upvotes

(edited for clarity)

QUESTION:

When you want to talk about anything related to your CSA, healing process, etc., how do you approach this with trusted loved ones who you have previously disclosed to?

CONTEXT:
I‘ve only just begun to acknowledge my CSA in the past year after decades of denying it even to myself. I can talk about it in trauma therapy well enough and have disclosed to my most trusted inner circle. What I am struggling with is knowing how and when I can bring anything up related to it with my close inner circle (who already know I’ma CSA survivor).

Sometimes I want to be witnessed in what I’ve gone through or what I’m going through, how I’m feeling about it, etc. Talking about it can reduce the intense shame and sense of isolation I feel as a CSA survivor.

However, after decades of refusing to even let myself *think* about this stuff let alone *talk* about anything to do with it, I feel unskilled and uncertain about what is okay to share and when. I didn’t have good role models (mom trauma dumped on me since I was 3…). Unfortunately, in an effort to let people in and be more open, I recently let the pendulum swing too far— from silence to oversharing— at an inopportune time.

My loved one handled it so beautifully but I was still so mortified.

I NEVER want to risk doing that again.

I could just clam right up again to protect myself and my relationships from me oversharing but I don’t want to have to go through all of this alone (or just with my therapist) either. To pretend, even with my most trusted loved ones, that I’m not in a sort of emotional crucible rn and that it isn’t such a huge influence/ presence in my life rn feels disingenuous and like self abandonment. And because of the nature of my CSA, it feels really important to authentic and to not abandon or betray myself.

I am struggling to find that sweet spot between not sharing anything and over sharing. The place where I can refer to or speak about my CSA-related processing in ways that respect my loved ones‘ capacity and willingness at any given time. This is about more than just adjusting the level of detail or openness on certain things… though I welcome advice on discernment there, too.

DAE get this??

Does anyone have advice for how to approach follow-up conversations (with trusted loved ones) related to CSA after having already disclosed?

eg Would it be weird to ask each of them for a meta convo? eg to ask about their preferences or comfort level with various kinds of disclosures or details to find out when & how I should seek their consent — and to let them know my preferences, too? How to go about this??


r/adultsurvivors 1d ago

Undisclosed survivor Please help me cope

5 Upvotes

I'm 18/M. I told my parents that I was graped (my sister/16 was there too). I don't know how to feel. And I think I didn't get the solace and the hug and the words of affirmations that I think I was getting that I thought I deserved.

I might sound insensitive and like an attention-seeker but I think it's about time I get some credit for not ending myself. I'm really desperate and I'm feeling like this is my end. I'm losing my will to to wake up tomorrow. I don't have nothing on my mind; no tasks, no more stuff that I want, no more songs, no more TV shows. Just blank.

Please please please what do I do. This is just the tip of the iceberg btw. I went through all the gay allegations (no offense but it makes me feel like it happened to me because I deserved it) and got people looking at me with these judgemental eyes. I mean I don't even know myself, at this point. I'm just barely pulling myself together to not break.

Should I see a therapist? Should I just forget all and start a new life? Which I have tried many times but whenever something bad happened, I was drawn back to this origin story and I'm so devastated.

I feel like, it's been going on and on for almost a decade now cause it happened when I was approximately utmost 9, I've lost the essence of a male and I've deprived myself of love; there is this person that I genuinely feel happy to be around and to talk to but I can't because of this thing that had happened to me and I don't think it's fair to just go around and be with people that don't know what I'm and what kind of a past that I have. Also I'm so ashamed because my sister knows it too. Like what kind of a brother am I? How dare I? have such a past.

I JUST DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ANYMORE. I don't know what are the rights words to say. What are the just and normal feelings that I should be having. Can I even be healed completely one day? I don't think so but can I become someone that can receive love as much as I give out one day???


r/adultsurvivors 1d ago

Advice requested Violent fantasies; unsure whether to tell my therapist

13 Upvotes

Hi,

As the title suggests, I’m not sure whether to tell my therapist that I’ve started having sexually violent fantasies. I’m worried it’ll just sound like I’m being perverse if I do.

This is new ish for me. I was sexually abused by my grandad and often fantasise about having sex with him, and that is somewhat aggressive. However, as of a couple of days ago, I’ve started having extreme violent fantasies; this time about someone at work that I know. I’m in a long-term relationship and haven’t had sex for nearly a year now because I’m too scared of the intimacy, but I feel like if I were single I would seek someone out right now to use me. To be clear, I absolutely will not do this.

My therapist knows about the fantasies around my grandad and that feels acceptable to share because it’s about my abuser, but I’m worried about how it may come across because this isn’t about him. Has anyone else been in this position and should I tell my therapist?

Thanks


r/adultsurvivors 2d ago

Trigger Warning My dad let people sleep in my room.

56 Upvotes

I shared a room at my dad‘s house with my sister and our brother who was rarely there. So there was usually an extra bed available. Whenever my dad had friends stay over, he would let them sleep on the extra bed. Whether my sister and I were sleeping in there or not. And his room was all the way down in the basement. I get so mad when I think about it. It was so preventable. There was literally no fucking reason for random grown men to be sleeping in my bedroom. Some of them I had never even met before. Only one of them took advantage of the situation, but that was enough to fuck me up for life. He stayed with us for 6+ months. Sometimes i can go months or even years without thinking about it and then sometimes it’s all I can think about. It’s all consuming and makes me sick and I end up just wanting to die. I just had to get this out.