Hi,

I have been using this site for quite a long time now but have only joined and read through the forums today so I hope you do not mind me adding. But I really felt I had to say something. I was abused as a child and I always knew it wasn’t my fault. As a young child I was too scared to form many coherent thoughts other than those based on fear and anxiety; moving on I spent all of my teen years afraid but I always knew the abuse wasn’t my fault. I am 50 now and I still never look back and believe I was to blame. I agree what you say (Anita) about feeling inadequate though; I still do but I have learnt to understand that about myself. I have read this whole thread and, I suppose, how can any of us know who here is real. As a newcomer I just wanted to let – whoever is reading this – know that child abuse can affect people differently and I think that needs to be recognised.