Is this a normal way for your mind to process trauma?

Since I don't want to linger on writing this for too long, I'll give a short rundown. When I was 13, I was on my home from my friend's house. I walked since it wasn't too far away. A boy, a senior from my high school, grabbed me, cut my stomach with a knife, dragged me behind a building, and raped me. I was found early in the morning and could have died.

That situation is long passed, however. And I've long gotten past it. But since then, the word has gotten out that it happened. I won't go into detail about how, since that doesn't matter in this context. Anyways, it started with a group of bullies who'd decided to make me one of their targets finding out, and then deciding to take their bullying way too far. I could take the bullying before, just immature comments and quiet insults. But it got worse when they found that ammunition.

They would call me names that actually ended up upsetting me. Slut, whore, slave, stuff like that. It even escalated to the point of it happening outside of school. They followed me to the store and back to stress me out, would yell my name from the street outside my house. I even went to a party with my family once and nearly got groped by one of them, and it was all just to stress me out and bring back those memories. By now it's stopped, but it effected me way more than it should have.

Then, I ended up talking to a person on Reddit. This guy was adamant on the idea of an obedient, submissive significant other. He called me those names too, but it got increasingly worse as time went on, as he'd tell me to send him pictures or videos, and if I ever didn't, he told me he'd do some awful things to me as a punishment. And there were points where he would remind me what I was "Meant to be", telling me that women are made to be owned by men, and that I was born to be a slut. I was in a very vulnerable mindset, and I let him take advantage of me. I cut off ties since then

The main issue lies in that all of this has built up and congregated to the point where I genuinely believe those things. It shows sometimes as well. If ever a man looks at me in a bad way or says something angry to me, I'd feel horrible and inadequate, which wasn't the case before. There was once where I almost called by step-dad "sir" when he jokingly said he was disappointed. It's taking a legitimate toll on my mental health. It's not that I see women as objects. It's that I see myself in particular as below men. It's like my mind has been reprogrammed to be a submissive sex toy. And I hate it.

I want to know if you think this is normal considering the circumstances, and if this is something that people who have gone through similar things have experienced.

Thank you for reading.

Voting Results
50% Normal
Based on 2 votes (1 yes)
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Comments ( 6 )
  • RoseIsabella

    I think you should see a therapist to help you deal with the trauma of the ordeal you faced, and I also think that you should take a self defense class.

    This is why I think it would be wonderful to put a bullet in a rapist's head. I'm serious, I think rapists deserve to die long, slow, torturous deaths.

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    • BlueFireBraixen

      That's... a bit violent I think. But I can understand the anger

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      • RoseIsabella

        Rapists are evil sub-human garbage.

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  • clitoriajustice

    it is absolutely normal for your mind to have these thoughts! they're not your fault and as you said it doesn't mean you actually believe those things. they're responses to trauma, like you said. i'm glad you cut off the people in your life who hurt you. you may want to try therapy if you haven't already to deal with these thoughts and your trauma, and/or talking to someone in your life about what you're going through (if you haven't already).

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    • BlueFireBraixen

      Thank you. I have been to therapy before, but it didn't help. I only felt better during the session, and the moment I would leave, my thoughts would race again and I would doubt myself more. And for family, I'm not particularly comfortable bringing it up to those who don't know already, but I've talked to friends online about it

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      • clitoriajustice

        that's great! i'm glad you've talked to friends online. sometimes it feels like therapy doesn't help and maybe it didn't, it doesn't work for everyone. i'm glad you tried it but it's always worth it to try it again, sometimes we're just not ready for it at certain times. meditation can also help with having intrusive thoughts. you can look up guided meditation videos on youtube or get a book on guided meditation.

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