Teens Victimized by Dating Violence Often Have Difficult Pasts

By HealthDay

Teens victims of dating violence are likely to have suffered other forms of violence, such as sexual violence and child abuse, according to a new study.

Interviews with a national sample of 1,680 youth aged 12 to 17 revealed that every victim of dating violence reported it wasn't the first time they had been victimized, the researchers at the University of New Hampshire Crimes

Violence Against Women Can Take Lifelong Toll: Study

By HealthDay

Women who've suffered from gender-based violence are more likely to develop anxiety disorders or other mental woes, experience physical and mental disabilities, and have worse quality of life than other women, new research shows.

Gender-based violence includes rape and other forms of sexual assault, intimate-partner violence (such as spouse abuse) and stalking.

Risks for these

Study Hints at How Stress of Domestic Violence Might Be Passed to Unborn Child

By HealthDay 

A new study provides evidence that stress from domestic violence during pregnancy may make offspring more prone to stress as an adult.

However, the research doesn't directly prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

It may be difficult to ever prove that stress affecting the bodies of stressed-out pregnant mothers disrupts the inner chemistry of their children. The study does point

Emotional Abuse in Childhood May Disrupt Sleep Decades Later

By HealthDay

Emotional abuse in childhood can lead to sleep disruption in old age, a new study finds.

In analyzing nearly 900 adults aged 60 and older, researchers found that seniors who were emotionally abused by their parents decades earlier were at greater risk for poor sleep quality years later.

"A negative early attachment continues to exert an influence on our well-being decades later

Can my brother's baby mend family issues?

"Nothin' melts a heart like a grandchild will"

I remember hearing that line in the song "Jacob's Ladder" by Mark Wills clear back in 1996. I guess I never really believed that could happen, but now that my older brother is having his first baby (also my mom's first grandchild), I'm starting to see that the song was right in so many ways.

(Before I explain that, I want to say something about the

I quit the group "therapy"

I quit the domestic violence group "therapy." I didn't see a point to going to it. The group leader was so bad and disrespectful. When people talk, she won't even pay attention. She was constantly texting, checking the clock, writing down stuff that had nothing to do with the group or what someone was talking about. She allowed three people to dominate all the conversation with everyone else

Why I ended my longest friendship

Sometimes when you want to become a better person, you need to rid your life of the people who are holding you back. Sometimes ending a friendship is healthier than staying in it... when the friendship is toxic.

Two weeks ago, I went to church, and the minister gave a sermon about how you can overcome the "labels" of your past. He kept stressing the point that no matter what people have thought

Two amazing domestic violence videos

I stumbled across two really awesome videos related to domestic violence while I was going through Tumblr tonight. I suggest everyone watch these because they are done so well, but beware of how they could be triggering for victims of abuse.

And the usual disclaimer... if you or anyone you know is being abused, PLEASE I beg of you to get help. No one deserves to be abused. There is a hotline

I asked my mom if I could've been molested

I can't really discuss it in total depth right now, but I finally got brave enough to ask my mom if she thinks there is any possible way my father or someone else molested me when I was young. I'm trying to piece together why I'm so prone to dissociating and blocking things out of my head. Basically the first nine years of my life are blank. I have blocked out almost everything. I only have a

Male Victims of Domestic Abuse May Show Signs of PTSD

By HealthDay


Men who are victims of domestic abuse by their female partners can develop psychological trauma, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and suicidal thoughts, new research finds.

Researchers looked at a group of 302 men who sought professional help after experiencing what the researchers called "intimate terrorism," which refers to high levels of violence and

For Young Women, 'Controlling' Partner Often Abusive, Too

By HealthDay

Young women whose intimate partners try to control them are at increased risk for physical and sexual domestic violence, a new study finds.

It included more than 600 women aged 15 to 24 who were patients at a reproductive health center. Sixty-eight percent reported that a partner exhibited controlling behavior.

Of those women, 38 percent said they experienced controlling behavior

How my counseling intake went

Starting therapy soon ...

I had my intake appointment Friday morning for the abuse/rape survivor therapy I am going to start. The intake was supposed to take 90 minutes, but it actually ended up taking more like 110 minutes. I don't think most people walk in there and have that much abuse/rape information to share.

There were so many papers to fill out, so many questions to answer. They

My therapy will start April 1 (hopefully)

I finally got a call back pretty late on Thursday about the domestic violence/rape counseling. An intake appointment was set up for April 1st. Anyone else think it's funny that I'm going to enter the counseling program on April Fools Day?

Well I guess I won't for sure be entering the program. They have to evaluate me to see if they think I'm a "right fit" for the program. I don't know how I

I am seeking new therapy for abuse/rape

I've alluded to the fact that I'm not doing well lately, but I haven't explained. I'm not even sure how to explain what's happening. Always in the past I had a pretty good understanding of my own mind and what I was going through, but now I'm at a loss. I set out on a path of self-discovery a while back. I've been trying to face all my issues in an attempt to overcome them. Somehow by facing them

Letting go of the anger toward my father

I haven't written much lately. Other than the blog memes and posting news articles I've found, I haven't posted much here. I've been really struggling. It's been hard lately.... well for the last couple months. Every day is a struggle. I'd like to explain more, but I can't find the words to explain it all. But in the midst of all the shitty days, something good has happened.I walked around for