Time to educate GPs

Here we are nearly at the end of February already.
I have had ups and downs since my last entry. One I want to speak about is the lack of education about mental health and survivors of Childhood sexual abuse amongst GPs.  I know that this is not their field but lets face it if 1 in 5 people suffer some form of mental health problem and 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men are survivors of Childhood sexual abuse it is highly likely to come up in their clients.

I had gone to a GP about a physical problem and this GP has been quite good so far. So I think that she meant well but she made comments like "I know you have had a terrible 12 months but now it's time to focus on something positive...if you keep going like this you will lose your husband and any friends you have here"  and "People will be interested in your story once just out of curiosity but after that they will not be interested and will have no compassion"
Needless to say I left that appointment feeling worse than when I went in. The damage done by "well meaning" GPs can be devastating!

It is time they get some education about what to say and what NOT to say to a client who is depressed.  I spoke to my psychologist about it and she said that working through any child hood abuse (trauma) is a long and slow process as it damages the normal development of a child. So basically the survival behaviours and triggers are dried in the cement so to speak. You cannot just snap out of the trauma (I wish!!) Yes it is important to focus on some positives too but it is like telling someone who can only  speak German that they must now only speak pure English!

I have found since I have been open about being a survivor I have had 2 things happen. The first is good  that is it has now given others a chance to share their stories too. Being silenced is one of the major problems with being a survivor. It is a very confronting subject but survivors are continuously being silenced by the perpetrator, by family, doctors and society.  So that brings me to the second, I have been silenced by my family, some friends, some GPs and some Christians. General society has also silenced me, 'take a pill and shut up, it hurts too much too think about it'. So there is again silencing and no justice for the survivor.

It is isolating enough being a survivor so to have the ignorance of some professionals slap you in the face is very frustrating. When you are drowning in the trauma you don't have a lot of energy to explain to people why you are drowning, when they are telling you to stop drowning and just swim!

I have battled with being suicidal and exhaustion, I have battled with numbness and anger of the injustice done to me by the perpetrator and the lack of support from the people around me but I will keep battling on because of my husband and my kids and because I want to stand up for other survivors and join with them to break this vicious cycle that is hidden and wrong!
Time to educate and break the silence!
Margie Thomas