Hi Anita,

My apologies for not responding to your previous message. I learned to control these thoughts for a while. However, over the last week or so, these same thoughts about body issues/some of the described incidents have begun reoccurring. I have tried the exercises you mentioned, they work to an extent and I will try to get better at it, reminding myself I can’t expect perfection at all times.

I have a few questions, that I was hoping you may be willing to answer. I think having a better understanding of a few things, can help me in the long run.

-Why do you feel the mind fixates on things? I have various other things I could be stressing over, could this be a defense mechanism? These thoughts often take my full attention, while at work or watching TV.

-I have had several intrusive thoughts, but the body issues always bother me the most. I often think “nobody else has to deal with these incidents, why me?” I haven’t been able to figure out why I think of this. Do you think talking to my family will help me out?

-Often I think of certain incidents on body issue (such as the one with my mother) as “changing the course of my entire life” given that I started to get quite angry about them in my teen years. Do you feel that the incident with my mother is a symbol of sorts? How does symbolism in the mind work (if there is such a thing)? Also, my mom often came to my defense with my sister (described previously), yet I still get the most upset about the incident with her, as compared to ones with my dad or sister.

-How common is it to have the types of experiences I described? Would they be classified as sexual abuse or assault at all, or just teasing?

-Will it be possible to forgive, forget and move on? Would reminding myself that my family had no negative intentions help to this end? As I mentioned previously, I often regret how much time I have fixated on this topic, only causing me to think about it all the more, which ends up being a never ending cycle.

Apologies if I wasn’t clear on something. I just had a lot that I think discussing with someone can help. Thank you again and I hope you’re doing well.

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• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Nick.