https://www.pinterest.com/pin/1477812368587535/
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Who am I? This quandary is much more complex for abused kids.
I still do not know who I am, there are multiple people inside me.
Is this the Internal Family System on steroids?
Am I the shamed, worthless child, beaten and ruthlessly criticized, or the athletic star, or another one of my damaged personalities?
Our dissociation does not have a psychotic break, creating Dissociative Identity Disorder (multiples), but we have a big dissociation issue.
Even the athletic star’s self-worth is created by performance not intrinsic worthiness.
Every game risks loss without permanent gain, only temporary escape.
Safety and worthiness are fleeting, performance-based, they only last to the next challenge.
Worthiness and safety have never been permanent.
Some of us have never felt at peace, worthy of love, whatever love is.
The problem with these characters, none feels worthy or at peace.
I have no memory as a child of feeling safe or worthy, there is not a solid core or foundation of attachment. My childhood has quicksand as a foundation.
Trust does not flourish inside an abused child, we lack the basic ingredients for being part of a community or being happy.
We isolate, an inner battle of trauma carries on besides normal life, we live a different existence.
Regular life takes a back seat from time to time, PTSD can dominate everything.
My younger days of high-energy distraction with constant work and play are gone.
My body cannot exhaust my PTSD symptoms anymore.
We are the harshest judge of ourselves, we mirror our caregiver’s (abusers) judgments.
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PTSD - A Way Out.com 