Physical violence

Being tortured or subjected to deliberate, prolonged physical harm

Physical harm that was sustained, deliberate, and intended to cause maximum suffering. This includes people who were tortured in conflict settings, in captivity, or in domestic situations where abuse was extreme and prolonged.

What you survived sits at an extreme that most people cannot imagine, which can make the loneliness afterward almost as heavy as the memory. You do not have to translate it for anyone here or manage their reaction to it. Survivors of deliberate cruelty carry things that deserve witness without flinching, and that is what a fellowship is for.

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. Chronic pain Pain that has been investigated and treated and remains. Hypervigilance The nervous system that learned to scan for danger all the time. 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. Insomnia Difficulty falling asleep. Emotional numbing Not depression exactly. Startle response The nervous system calibrated to danger will flinch at sounds, movements, or surprises that others barely notice. Shame Not guilt about something you did.

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.

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