That comment in your first post about your mother saying you were selfish really struck a chord. Parents accusing children of selfishness always strikes me as beyond strange. My folks harped on that string all the time. The way I see it, the child's task is simply enormous -- survival. And particularly if you're not only NOT getting help to survive, but are being damaged on a daily basis by the people whose job it is to nurture and protect you while you develop, you have to do whatever you have to do.

What does any animal do when it's injured -- retreat and tend to the wound. For the parent who has caused that very wound to then accuse the child of being selfish, when they're just struggling to deal with the abuse -- that is so breathtakingly arrogant and, yes, evil to me. Good word.