Hi there

I was emotionally abused and neglected but not PA or SA either (at least, not in the conventional sense). For a long time I felt a fraud because so many people had had it worse, or so I thought. But then a T told me that the emotional abuse is actually the hardest aspect of ANY abuse, that's what is so devastating at the end of the day. And this sort of abuse can't be seen by others. My ex husband once told me that if I went around telling people I'd had a bad childhood I'd be sneered at because it's nothing compared to the stuff others have been through. It took me a long time to recover from those comments or to even think my feelings mattered. But you know what, they do. And so do yours - everyone's feelings matter and emotional abuse takes that self belief away from us. It destroys our soul. It is as much abuse as anything else can be.

I'm sorry you were so badly abused by the people who should have loved and protected you.