“I knew exactly how to behave in the presence of adults, what made their eyes light up: speak intelligently, be polite, listen when spoken to, ask meaningful questions... When I became a teenager, I'd overhear adults laugh and say to my mom, "She's thirteen going on thirty, isn't she?" That felt like winning the lottery, to be told I wasn't like other kids. I was more like an adult. I was extraordinary.” Growing UpChildhoodYouthMaturityComing Of AgeChildhood TraumaParentificationGrowing Up Too Fast Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“I've often read the advice, wait until you're fully healed to write your story. I disagree. If we all waited, most of our stories would never get written, and those who need our stories most would never hear them.” InspirationalHealingMental HealthMental Health AwarenessGrief And HealingMental Health StigmaSharing PainStories Writing Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“...for as long as I could remember, something hadn't felt quite right in my body, like a drawer that's off kilter inside its desk, refusing to slide smoothly in and out, catching as it opens and closes.” HealingPsychologyDepressionMental HealthTraumaSurvivorMental Health AwarenessSurvival StoryHealing TraumaMood Disorder Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“Chris's apartment was like a time capsule, and every time I stepped through the door I became one of its many preserved fixtures, reprising my role as the submissive starry-eyed girl, again and again and again.” PsychologyTraumaToxic RelationshipsGroomingStockholm SyndromeCoercive ControlTrauma BondAbuse By TeacherChild Sexual Grooming Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“Memories of Chris were like songs I couldn't get out of my head, a greatest hits album that played in a never ending loop morning, afternoon, and night.” MemoriesPsychologyMental HealthPtsdPost Traumatic Stress DisorderCognitive DissonanceStockholm SyndromeStuck In The PastTrauma Bond Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“Something was wrong, and I didn't know how to explain it in a way anyone would understand. It was as if there was an invisible thread between me and Chris, connecting us, and it didn't matter that he was over a thousand miles away in Florida. He was with me everywhere I went, invading my mind and body, stealing the life I could have had.” PsychologyMental HealthTraumaMental IllnessPtsdSurvivors Of AbusePost Traumatic Stress DisorderStockholm SyndromeTrauma Bond Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“If adults that were bitten by dogs as children still reacted to dogs with fear, was it crazy to think that such an intense event from my teenage years could live in my body and continue to be triggered by a similar situation?” Mental HealthTraumaSurvivorPtsdChild Sexual AbusePost Traumatic Stress DisorderTriggerSexual Abuse Survivor Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“I told Ian, "When I think of sexual assault, I think of a child lying in their bed and someone coming into their room at night." Ian's voice hardened. "I think of a girl being locked in a band room by her teacher.” Child Sexual AbuseGroomingCognitive DissonanceStockholm SyndromeTrauma BondChild Sexual GroomingSexual GroomingGroomed By TeacherSexual Assault By Teacher Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“Becca hesitated, as if contemplating a move on a chessboard. "Do you know what Stockholm syndrome is?” TherapySexual AbuseChild Sexual AbuseChild Sexual Abuse SurvivorTherapistStockholm SyndromeTrauma BondChessboardAbuse By Teacher Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“I interpreted his heartbeat to be some sort of Morse code for his feelings, but maybe I was imagining substance where there was only air.” Toxic RelationshipsGroomingStockholm SyndromeCoercive ControlTrauma BondAbuse By Teacher Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“One woman reminded me of you. The day she testified, she woke up still wondering whose side she was going to be on.” Sexual AssaultGroomingStockholm SyndromeBetrayal TraumaTrauma BondTestifySexual Grooming Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“We lived separate lives, but I believed wholeheartedly that we shared the same reality.” Toxic RelationshipsGroomingAbusive RelationshipsStockholm SyndromeCoercive ControlTrauma BondSexual Abuse SurvivorAbused By Teacher Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“I was in awe of him. How someone who was supposed to love me could so casually break me into a million pieces.” Toxic RelationshipsToxic LoveUnhealthy RelationshipsUnhealthy LoveTeenage Relationships Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“...I was always floating somewhere above reality, adrift in my body rather than anchored to it.” RealityPsychologyMental HealthTraumaMental IllnessDissociationAnxiety And DepressionOut Of Body Experience Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“Somewhere, buried under the trauma and grief, I must have known—the problem wasn't that Ian didn't love me. The problem was the lens through which I viewed love.” LoveRelationshipsGriefMarriageTraumaToxic RelationshipsToxic LoveStockholm SyndromeTrauma Bond Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“Our marriage—the one we had grown accustomed to for over ten years—was over. But that didn't mean we couldn't start again and build a better marriage.” MarriageInfidelityInfidelity In MarriageRepairing RelationshipsMarriage Conflict Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance
“...I was reading that, in some cultures, they don't throw away a piece of pottery just because it breaks. They pour gold into the cracks, and the piece is even more beautiful than it was before it broke." He turned his head and stared into me. "You broke our marriage. I'm hoping, after all this, we can end up with something beautiful.” BeautifulMarriageGoldInfidelityInfidelity In MarriageBroken MarriageKintsugiRepairing Relationships Book:Dissonance Source: Dissonance