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View Full Version : Sexual assault recovery am I crazy??


adej
Feb 22, 2015, 01:00 AM
About 6 months ago two men broke into my home. Long story short I was beaten by both and assaulted with an object by one of them. They have not been caught and from all appearances there doesn't seem to be an attempt to identify them. Despite a concussion, broken nose, stitches/staples in head and face, and deep cuts in my back I felt an overwhelming drive to immediately clean up my home (4 hrs after attack) and return to work within three days.

In the last 6 months I seem to be all over the place. I'm zoned out one minute flying into a rage the next. Everyone around me seem to be the motionless robots who don't care even those Ive known for years and considered close friends. Early on I would obsessively talk about it even when I didn't talk about it. I feel desperate to find anyone who will make me feel safe.

This led to a sexual encounter with an old friend in which I inexplicably blinked out for a considerable amount of time without realizing it. I feel like I need someone to just hold me and understand if only for a bit but everywhere I turn it's a cold callous avoidance which propels me into a rage and unbelievable sadness and loneliness.

Am I going crazy?? Its been 6 months when will I be me again if ever??

Fr_Chuck
Feb 22, 2015, 01:04 AM
This will be something that really needs professional counseling. There are many emotions from the assault and the breaking in, and now causal sex, unless you were doing that before, that all needs to be dealt with. You are trying and confusing relationships with safety.

joypulv
Feb 22, 2015, 03:34 AM
What you call blinking out is called dissociation (you were dissociating). Yes, you need counseling. And if you want to feel like you are 'doing' something, hound the police to work on the case more!
The swings from zoning out to rage are very much a common way of coping after a serious assault.
Don't think of yourself as going crazy in a crazy world where 2 evil men invade a home and gang up on a woman! They are crazy bad, not you.
Why do friends seem to not care? Because they start out with intense feelings of caring and wish they could find the guys and kill them and hold you forever, but as soon as the frustration that they can't sets in, they start to feel guilty, and then resentment sets in that it isn't fair that they feel guilty, and they get angry, but they don't dare say that, so they go into a state where they don't want to hear about it anymore. Forgive them, and give them a break while you get help!
Mental health clinic near you? Self-help support group?

Jake2008
Feb 22, 2015, 07:34 AM
I agree that the symptoms you describe, need professional advice and a firm diagnosis and plan of care. After six months of living this nightmare, it is time to take care of business, within the safety of a counselors office.

So much can be done to help you recover from what you have been through.

odinn7
Feb 22, 2015, 08:09 AM
I feel for you but I just wanted to add....perhaps part of the reason your friends seem like "motionless robots" is because they simply don't know how to face what you have been through. I know that when someone close to me has someone die (or something tragic like that), I give initial condolences and then I kind of let it go...I know this isn't really the way to do things but I don't know how else to cope with what they are feeling. I don't want to keep bringing it up because I don't want to stir emotions that may hurt the person. At the same time, I don't know how to handle it myself. It doesn't make me a bad person, just one that doesn't know how to handle the grief that the person is going through. I hope this all makes sense. I know what I'm trying to say but not sure how to word it. Really, it doesn't make those people in your life bad people...they may just think you are better off if they don't remind you of the whole situation.

Good luck to you and I hope you find your way through this.

talaniman
Feb 22, 2015, 08:54 AM
You can heal from this trauma that has left you powerless by getting the RIGHT help for yourself, and not trying to do it on your own, and depending on friends who don't know how.

No you are NOT crazy for not knowing how to heal, but as the others have so rightfully said, find a professional trained in knowing HOW to help to guide you through your healing, so you can properly recover. Did the police/hospital not recommend someone for you to talk to?