[QUOTE=MotownJohnny;3785762]Is this something that was kept "hush-hush" in your family, your household growing up? I know with me, my father was a brute, but we had to present the image of "the perfect family" to the world. QUOTE]

My mother was the main brute and was terrified I would tell people about her abuse. She kept me out of the hospital when I was extremely sick at 14 because she didn't want me to tell hospital staff she was a horrible mother. She was a nurse. When I asked her at 16 if I could see a psychiatrist because I was always depressed, she said children didn't see psychiatrists! She didn't want me to spill the beans to anyone in the medical comm. Yes, there was a lot of hush, hush. Since I was very young the message was "never tell, never tell."

She's dead but when I told my story to my T and now want to tell it to my friend I have this weird thought she's going to come back from the dead and kill me. That's so irrational!