Physical violence

Being hit, beaten, or physically hurt by a parent or caregiver

Being struck, beaten, or physically harmed by a parent or caregiver. Whether it happened once or hundreds of times. Whether anyone called it abuse or not.

When the hands that were supposed to protect you were the ones that hurt you, home and danger became the same address. Many survivors of this spend years calling it discipline, or normal, or not that bad. Whatever your family called it, your body kept an honest record, and here nobody will argue with what it knows.

What can follow an experience like this

No two people carry the same experience the same way. These are some of the effects that people with this experience often describe. Having some of them, all of them, or none of them says nothing about how real what happened to you was.

PTSD After certain experiences, the brain can get stuck, replaying what happened through flashbacks, nightmares, or sudden intense reactions to things that remind you of it. Hypervigilance The nervous system that learned to scan for danger all the time. Insomnia Difficulty falling asleep. Trust issues Trust that was broken, repeatedly, by people who were supposed to be safe. C-PTSD When trauma happened repeatedly, over a long time, or at the hands of people who were supposed to care for you, the effects go deeper than a single event. Shame Not guilt about something you did. Startle response The nervous system calibrated to danger will flinch at sounds, movements, or surprises that others barely notice. Depression Not just sadness.

Nothing on this page is a diagnosis, and nothing here decides what is wrong with you, because nothing is wrong with you. Something happened to you. This page exists so that when you are ready, you can find people who understand it from the inside.

You do not have to carry this alone.

Bridge of Hope Recovery is a free, anonymous, peer-led fellowship for trauma survivors. Meetings run throughout the week by phone, by video, and in person. No cost, no waitlist, no one asking for your real name.

Find a meeting Join the fellowship

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