Dear Mary:

As to what people say: “she’s my mother after all and has to be respected”- not so: the right behavior toward a person who abuses you is not to act respectfully toward them, to be patient with their abuse, but to not be in their presence, that is, to have no contact with that person.

To “cope in the best way possible” while in contact, or in captivity, you are already coping the best way you can. The human body will survive unbelievable difficult circumstances, as history indicates and as reality indicates. Not only humans survive but animals and plants. Nature has a very impressive record of survival in the toughest circumstances imaginable.

Without intent on your part, naturally, your brain does what it needs to do to survive your circumstances. You can read such survival stories if you’d like, to give you strength, true-life survival stories of people throughout history.

I hope the no-contact solution will soon enough be possible for you. Post again anytime.

anita