Brave, important and honest writing, Kathryn, I applaud you. My heart skipped a beat when you got to the evangelical church and the devil's music. I'm on the waiting list for CPTSD therapy & EDMR and my trauma harks back to my teenage years and having the devil prayed out of me as I knelt in church with the pastor and elders laying hands on me after being sexually abused by those very men.
It takes a huge amount of bravery to share our stories and I'm so glad to have stumbled across you here.
Thank you for publishing this. It’s an act of courage to lay ourselves so bare. It will definitely help others who read your story. I (now) suspect my son, who took his life, had bipolar 2. I have learned to steer my thoughts away from
blaming myself for not realising this, and posts like this really help me continue to do this x
I'm so sorry to hear that Esther. My brother took his own life ten years ago and the sense of “I could have done more” is so hard to shake. Thank you for telling me that my writing has helped - it's always scary to be honest, but so important I think. Take good care xx
Thank you Kathryn, you obviously understand the complexity of this kind of loss. I’m sorry you lost your brother too. We honour them best by being open and honest don’t we.
Brave, important and honest writing, Kathryn, I applaud you. My heart skipped a beat when you got to the evangelical church and the devil's music. I'm on the waiting list for CPTSD therapy & EDMR and my trauma harks back to my teenage years and having the devil prayed out of me as I knelt in church with the pastor and elders laying hands on me after being sexually abused by those very men.
It takes a huge amount of bravery to share our stories and I'm so glad to have stumbled across you here.
Thank you Sue. I remember the praying out of devils and demons so clearly - awful, toxic scenarios. I'm only just begining to explore it in my writing. I'm so sorry they did that to you - the ultimate blame shifting. Well done for surviving xx
Yes, like you, am also exploring now in my writing. It's amazing what's coming up. It took me half a century to be brave enough to go there. I was always threatened with not only eternal damnation but destroying my mother's life and ultimately being responsible for her ill health if I dared rebel.
Thank you for writing and sharing such a profound and personal piece. I can imagine it was at times difficult even frightening to do, maybe especially to hit post, yet unless we all feel safe to talk openly, the individual burden grows and adds to the daily strain. My aunt lived with bi-polar that was triggered by the death of her brother, my father. Within the family it was known but not talked about, but now when there are so many false narratives about what many live with, at a time when we have the medical knowledge to be very clear and accurate, those who generously share their lived experience as you’ve done, touch so many, and I hope too that the burden of carrying on in silence is easing day by day for you 🙏💕
Thank you so much. The strain of silence is almost as hard as the illness I think. I'm so grateful to have had people in my life who care even though they may not understand.
Thank you Rita. I'm glad it's been useful too. Before my diagnosis I had very little understanding of the range of symptoms. It's a shame we don't speak about the specifics of mental illness more I think; everything is just placed under the rather vague umbrella of "mental health"
Brave, important and honest writing, Kathryn, I applaud you. My heart skipped a beat when you got to the evangelical church and the devil's music. I'm on the waiting list for CPTSD therapy & EDMR and my trauma harks back to my teenage years and having the devil prayed out of me as I knelt in church with the pastor and elders laying hands on me after being sexually abused by those very men.
It takes a huge amount of bravery to share our stories and I'm so glad to have stumbled across you here.
I'm glad you did publish this xx
Thank you - it was a leap of faith but so important for people to understand. Including me.
Thank you for publishing this. It’s an act of courage to lay ourselves so bare. It will definitely help others who read your story. I (now) suspect my son, who took his life, had bipolar 2. I have learned to steer my thoughts away from
blaming myself for not realising this, and posts like this really help me continue to do this x
I'm so sorry to hear that Esther. My brother took his own life ten years ago and the sense of “I could have done more” is so hard to shake. Thank you for telling me that my writing has helped - it's always scary to be honest, but so important I think. Take good care xx
Thank you Kathryn, you obviously understand the complexity of this kind of loss. I’m sorry you lost your brother too. We honour them best by being open and honest don’t we.
Brave, important and honest writing, Kathryn, I applaud you. My heart skipped a beat when you got to the evangelical church and the devil's music. I'm on the waiting list for CPTSD therapy & EDMR and my trauma harks back to my teenage years and having the devil prayed out of me as I knelt in church with the pastor and elders laying hands on me after being sexually abused by those very men.
It takes a huge amount of bravery to share our stories and I'm so glad to have stumbled across you here.
Thank you Sue. I remember the praying out of devils and demons so clearly - awful, toxic scenarios. I'm only just begining to explore it in my writing. I'm so sorry they did that to you - the ultimate blame shifting. Well done for surviving xx
Yes, like you, am also exploring now in my writing. It's amazing what's coming up. It took me half a century to be brave enough to go there. I was always threatened with not only eternal damnation but destroying my mother's life and ultimately being responsible for her ill health if I dared rebel.
And I hope the EMDR is useful. I found it hard to go through but it was ultimately beneficial.
Thank you for posting, that was brave, and so informative. I hope you continue to feel better.
Thank you Elaine xx
Thank you for writing and sharing such a profound and personal piece. I can imagine it was at times difficult even frightening to do, maybe especially to hit post, yet unless we all feel safe to talk openly, the individual burden grows and adds to the daily strain. My aunt lived with bi-polar that was triggered by the death of her brother, my father. Within the family it was known but not talked about, but now when there are so many false narratives about what many live with, at a time when we have the medical knowledge to be very clear and accurate, those who generously share their lived experience as you’ve done, touch so many, and I hope too that the burden of carrying on in silence is easing day by day for you 🙏💕
Thank you so much. The strain of silence is almost as hard as the illness I think. I'm so grateful to have had people in my life who care even though they may not understand.
I'm also glad you published this. It is so clear and true. Has developed my understanding of several things. Thank you.
Thank you Rita. I'm glad it's been useful too. Before my diagnosis I had very little understanding of the range of symptoms. It's a shame we don't speak about the specifics of mental illness more I think; everything is just placed under the rather vague umbrella of "mental health"
Beautiful, well done ❤️🌸
Thank you so much Emma - I was quite scared to publish it but I’m glad I did. It’s heartening to see how kind people are.
A brave piece. Hoping you can continue to feel better and stronger, Kathryn. x
Thank you - I am definitely in a much better place than I have been x
Thank you for being brave and publishing this.
Thank you xx