substance abuse

Resilience through fiction, or that time I wrote a vampire novel that was secretly about trauma

By | 2018-04-09T02:13:44-04:00 June 21st, 2016|Categories: Coping Strategies, Recovery, Resilience|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

This post is for the June 2016 Carnival of Aces, which is on the topic of “Resiliency.” Content warnings: discussion of trauma and violence (sexual and not), mentions of substance abuse and suicidality and self-harm, all in the context of talking about a work of fiction Between 2008 and 2011 I [...]

Violence Our Own Minds Play Out

By | 2018-04-09T02:55:14-04:00 August 18th, 2015|Categories: By & For Ace Survivors, Personal Narratives|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Sometimes we visit violence upon ourselves, not just by intentionally harming ourselves or putting ourselves in dangerous situations, but by perverting things we enjoy or letting our mind run away with our feelings. It’s important to recognize the violence our own mind is playing out and address it, or else our mind wanders away.

It Gets Better: Chasing the ‘Before’

By | 2018-04-10T00:38:36-04:00 July 21st, 2015|Categories: Asexuality & Mental Health, By & For Ace Survivors, Personal Narratives|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Probably the worst part of it was how my grandparents urged me to go back to who I was 'before'. For me, there was no before. I didn't realize it then, but for many of the victims of repeated childhood sexual abuse, there is no 'before'. You know the one. Before the abuse. Before the pain. Before the brokenness. Now, when I think about who I was 'before', I realize that it wasn't as clear-cut as my grandparents and the psychologist made it out to be. Now, I realize that the 'before' they referred to was their own—namely, before they knew about the abuse. Today, I have a different 'before'. Before I decided to live for me. Before I forgave myself. Before I realized that my life is valid, no matter what.