Intrusive Thoughts & Disturbing Dreams
My parents divorced when I was 4. I grew up living with my dad. I slept in the same bed as him until I was probably 11/12 years old. At the time I didn’t realize it wasn’t normal. Just sleeping in the same bed wouldnt be so bad, except he always slept in his underwear. loose boxers. and as I was a kid, I always slept snuggled up right next to him. And when he would have women stay the night, and I would actually sleep in my room, I could hear them. every time. he didn’t bother to even try not to be loud. He also always, for my whole life, overshared everything with me and was extremely over protective. to the point he would barely let me stay the night at friends houses, and barely trusted family members to take me. I didn’t realize how much all of this affected me until later in life. I feel disgusting. My dad never touched me or anything, but i still feel violated. I’ve read about emotional molestation and how that can create similar long term effects or actual molestation. I know they are not the same, but also after reading a lot of the long term effects it makes a lot of sense. now when i’m around him I hate when he touches me. I have nightmares of a sexual nature involving him which always makes me wake up the next morning feeling like a disgusting freak. I also have not had many sexual partners in my life, because it takes me an incredibly long time to feel comfortable enough with someone in that way. I feel violated and gross. I don’t know how to get past it, or to feel comfortable around him, or to feel comfortable in my own sexuality with partners. I hate this. I hate feeling like this. I hate having those dreams and intrusive thoughts. It makes me feel so ashamed and disgusting. And I don’t know how to talk to anyone about this. Even in therapy. It makes me feel so ashamed, i don’t know how to open up to someone about this and tell them to their face about any of this. i’m scared they will think i’m gross and disgusting. I thought coming on here and posting anonymously might help me. to just get it out. to talk about it. it’s my greatest shame, but maybe if I vent about it and hear of other people who have experienced similar things I won’t feel so alone and ashamed.
@emotionalHuman3836. I can relate to many things that you mentioned such as having nightmares, feeling ashamed and disgusting. You were very brave to write about your experiences here. It’s understandable that it’s hard to talk about these things. I wanted to let you know that if you browse listeners you can read their bio’s. There are some who do chats for these types of issues. I can give you the name of a listener that I know of if you are interested. Thank you for sharing your story,it means a lot.
@emotionalHuman3836- you were very brave to share your story. It is sad that you feel shame for behavior that was not yours.
@emotionalHuman3836 - I hope you can find peace and support - you deserve it. No one should subject their child to the situations you endured. Please continue to reach out and hopefully you can get professional counseling if able to move forward in your life.
thank you all so much for your kind responses. it really helps me to feel like i’m not being judged for things I can’t control
@emotionalHuman3836. Sending you best wishes on your healing journey ❤️.
I can relate to feeling sexually uncomfortable with partners. I’ve never been abused or anything but I use to think I was asexual for a long time. I remember feeling violated if I thought someone was trying to touch me or even make sexual comments. I use to hate being touched too. And I remember having my one year mark with my boyfriends before allowing them to be sexual with me. It definitely made for much better relationships though. They always knew that if they were looking for a quick hookup that I was not the one because it was never going to happen before at least one year of dating. It meant I was able to become truly best friends with my boyfriends and it was never dependent upon sex or being sexual. I say all this just to say, I do hope you find inner peace and an outlet for mental or emotional build up. And also, feeling uncomfortable in your sexuality doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Maybe it can help you build your relationships in other ways.