by J J kearns

Created on: March 10, 2009

Some people mistakenly believe that people simply outgrow the effects of childhood abuse. Although I would love for this to be true it unfortunately is something the victims will have to live with into their adult years. As a victim of childhood abuse myself I have found that dealing with my past can be difficult and I am not alone.

Adults that were abused as children experience different symptoms or effects. These people often exhibit low self esteem, depression, anxiety and panic attacks. They will also have difficulties in marriage and tend to isolate themselves. They also may find it hard to trust people and may fell like they deserved the abuse that they endured as a child.

For those of us that have been abused as a child life can be difficult. Sure we have our good days , but, we never know when something is going to trigger a sense of fear or depression and we never feel like we deserve anything.

It's not an easy thing to live with but someone who is struggling to get through their traumatic past is not alone there is help. For the ones that are suffering from depression and anxiety there are medications that they can take. To help them deal with these feelings. But, medications alone can not change learned patterns of thinking and behaving brought on do to the mistreatment during childhood.

People trying to cope with this should seek out counseling or therapy. When doing this it is important to choose a therapist that is warm, accepting and empathetic to your feelings. Talking to someone about their feelings and fears often helps the victim see that they did not deserve what happened to them and they are worth something.

As someone who has struggled and is struggling to live with the abuse that happened to me I can honestly say that having someone to talk to helps. For years I struggled to get through it on my own and found myself doing the exact opposite. Instead of working through the issues caused by my childhood I actually was in a position of feeling afraid, alone and that there was obviously something wrong with me, that had to be the reason I deserved to be beaten.

After many years of feeling like this I finally decided to open up and talk about it. I sought out a professional that I was comfortable with and began pouring my heart out. This helped me to move past the point of thinking that I deserved it and to putting the blame where it truly lies, on the abusers. Sure this is not easy thing to do. Getting to a point where you can except what has happened to you is not an easy road. But, if you take the right steps you can start to drive out of the fog of your traumatic childhood and into the sunlight. Where you will find that your relationships with people have improved and you are generally a happier person.

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