Thank you for your reply My kids are cool - it's good to know I'm not alone - in both experiences.

My counsellor said that the physical flashbacks made sense - today's session went so much quicker than any I've had before, probably because I spent so long crying and shaking!

She also said that from what I wrote in my email to her, there was no doubt in her mind that I had been sexually abused as a child. It was ... uplifting, in a way, to hear that. My first psychologist when I was 17 thought I was just over-sensitive and picking up on my mother's childhood abuse, though I said I was sure something had gone on.

I feel horrid for being relieved I'm not alone, because in no way would I wish such things on other people, but it kind of helps remove some of the guilt that I was in some way responsible.

Hope everyone's having a good Friday evening, I have a big bottle of red wine and I'm reading Sarah Waters' 'Affinity' which I downloaded yesterday evening and am already 45% of the way through (I love the Kindle for telling me that, my maths is poor!)