Tag Archives: abuse
The Madness I Lived, the Meaning I Made: A Cohesive Narrative For an Extreme Life
Creating a cohesive narrative of one’s life is one of the most powerful ways to make sense of what we’ve been through. It allows us to see patterns, understand our survival strategies, and reclaim a sense of agency in a … Continue reading
Posted in PTSD
Tagged abuse, clarity, cohesive narrative, narrative, PTSD, resistance, story
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An Open Letter to ChristianaCare Patient and Family Relations
To Denise, Charlie, Kellie, Manasi, and Jennifer of ChristianaCare Patient and Family Relations: Since ChristianaCare banned me from contacting any of its employees because I won’t stop talking about the gynecologist who performed medicalized Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) on me, … Continue reading
From Trauma to Truth: How I Became Anti-Psychiatry
I became anti-psychiatry because of what psychiatry did to me and what I saw it do to others. I walked in with severe Complex PTSD. They put me on Lexapro. The suicidal ideations started about 3 weeks after. When I … Continue reading
Posted in Psychiatry
Tagged abuse, anti-psychiatry, Behavioral Health, chemical imbalance, control, hierarchy, IPNB, Mental Health, psychiatry, Trauma
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Truth-Telling is Refusing to Let the Story End the Way They Wrote It
Trauma recovery doesn’t come from “getting over it.” It emerges from changing your relationship with what happened. There are many ways to do this: through story, compassionate witnessing, individual work, and collective work. But a key way to reclaim your … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability
Tagged abuse, ChristianaCare, painting, recovery, Rockford Center for Behavioral Health, speaking, survival, systemic abuse, truth, writing
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The Manufactured SNAP Crisis: A Nation’s Moral Reckoning
As the government shutdown drags on, nearly 42 million Americans are staring down an uncertain future. The Trump administration has announced it will not tap into emergency funds to maintain SNAP benefits beyond October, leaving millions without the food assistance … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged abuse, compassion, cruelty, food insecurity, hierarchy, hunger, justice, politics, SNAP, Trump Administration
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When Help Harms: How Welfare Humiliates the People It Supposedly Serves
I’ve had severe Complex PTSD nearly my whole life. In my young adult years, that meant a lot of financial instability. I tried my damndest to land and keep jobs, build a positive social environment, pursue education, keep my health … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse
Tagged abuse, abusive systems, humiliation, IPNB, shame, support, welfare
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Remembering the Kind of Man My Father Was
When I was nine years old, my mother took my siblings and me–and the contents of the marital bank account–and fled. She was trying to protect herself and her children from her husband, who was highly narcissistic and abusive to … Continue reading
Posted in Family
Tagged abuse, accountability, child abuse, child sex abuse, family, father, justice
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They Hurt Us to Feel Powerful: What a Predator Is About
People often ask why someone would do something so devastating as what I’ve experienced. Why would a parent create a coercive, dangerous environment for their child? Why would someone keep a young person trapped and isolated, controlling every part of … Continue reading
Posted in Predators
Tagged abuse, abusers, harm, institutional betrayal, IPNB, Medicine, predators, victim
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The Neurobiology of Resistance: Standing Against Abusive Power
I didn’t become a fighter by choice. My environment demanded it. There was no room to ally with my abusive father. He didn’t allow it. I couldn’t stop him from hurting me for being a girl, for not being the … Continue reading
Posted in Activism
Tagged abuse, authoritarinanism, compliance, connection, danger, fight, resistance, safety
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