My ex recently opened up about having been sexually abused when he was a kid, and it really hit me how much I recognised it. He'd never said anything before, been terrified to face it I suppose, but I somehow knew that it was there in his history somewhere.

The fact is these feelings are horribly destructive... I think sometimes they can only be faced when we're in some sense "safe" (I know we never feel safe.)

It is so painful, so counter intuitive (how could someone do these things to a child?) and we'd often prefer to pretend they never happened. Yet... the problems bubble up, whether we acknowledge them or not. It is so appalling that we can't believe it ourselves half the time, no wonder we're scared that nobody else will believe us.

But these feelings will out, and we need to be prepared for it.

Hang tough. You can get through this. And even when you can't bear to look at it yourself, you can talk here, and someone will listen. I believe you.