It's been nearly 30 yr since I was assaulted at 17. I only started to deal with it about 3 yr ago. I did a group for women, it really helped. I have a therapist who understands women's trauma.

Now I can see how - for my whole life - being in any situation where I was feeling completely trapped that I would shut down mentally, become furious and then distraught. For example, at work I was being bullied by a client, and my boss did not back me up. I kept melting down at work, I was furious at home. I started to have anxiety attacks in the evening. The final straw was our car getting illegally towed away while having haircuts. Whole family stranded. After that I got help and started to figure myself out!