Reply #245: To be clear. [View All]

First of all it certainly wasn't my intention to denigrate the experience of anyone who has been raped, so thank you for pointing that out.

However ... and you knew I was going to say however, didn't you? ... I believe that I was not trying to compare the experience of rape but rather the resultant pschological state of victims of serial abuse and rape to that of people who are serially financially (etc) abused. The resultant state of denial, rage or resignation are very real and very similar.

The incidents that lead to those psychological states are very different and but the reactions to abuse tend to be similar and the severity of said reactions vary person to person in a way that is not dependent on the precipitating incidents. I have a small background with working with populations that have suffered horrible abuse and I have always admired and supported anyone who has been through something like that or who has come out the far end even partially intact.

I hope this further explanation will help explain my previous post which was, admittedly written in haste and did not represent my best work. Thanks for your understanding.