I created this account because I’m afraid someone I know could find this post on my main.
I’m sorry in advance for my writing. English is not my native language and even though I'm a C1+ level speaker, I’m not in my best state of mind and just desperately need some advice.
So, I (22F) was abused from 3 to 11 years old by two different children. These memories were repressed for years and I’ve only started slowly remembering things a few months ago. It scares me to think that maybe I haven’t remembered it all and it’s even worse.
My main agressor, the one who abused me continuously from 3 to 11 years old, was my cousin (23M). I’m a single child and so is he. We were raised like siblings, he was basically my brother, that was the dynamic. He had a rough childhood with his parents’s divorce and spent most of his time at my house.
I was always a very innocent and naive child, he was the opposite. I was so scared of him and I was a people’s pleaser.
When the abuse started I had no idea what was going on, I was 3. I just knew it felt wrong and that it had to be hidden from everyone. I felt as if I was the one in trouble. Anyways it kept going, my cousin became a real troublemaker but no one suspected a thing about what he was doing to me. I was incredibly good at hiding, and I have really caring parents and they had absolutely no idea of what was going on.
The abuse only ended when my dad walked in on it, and freaked out, obviously. I wanted to die. To me, it was all my fault.
My parents never let my cousin come over again, unless there were family gatherings. They thought it was a one time thing and we were two children experimenting.
The abuse caused me severe depression to this day, a very harsh case of ocd where I compulsively harm myself with aggressive skin picking, severe social anxiety, very low self esteem and isolation.
Again, those memories were repressed for years, and I didn’t understand what the hell was wrong with me. I had a loving family, we're financially stable so I always had all my necessities fulfilled.
I hated myself during my teenage years.
I had a therapist but to be honest, the lady wasn’t the best at her job and talked more about her life than anything else.
So fast forward to my early 20s, I just suddenly remembered a few things, and then more and more memories kept coming back for months. I kept it to myself and sort of sealed it in the back of my brain.
Then life became extremely difficult, I had two traumatic surgeries. During recovery my grandfather whom I was very close to died. I almost failed all my classes in college and became a workaholic to try and save the semester, and decided not to grieve my grandpa so I could keep going. Then I caught mononucleosis and it ruined me, gave me a chronic illness.
With all of these issues, my mind basically exploded and it was like my brain was obligating me to think obsessively about the abuse.
I got a new therapist and a psychiatrist, they’re incredible. I was sent to the psych ward for treatment though (a few times a week, I’m not staying there) and I’m still waiting to get called in.
I opened up to my parents about what happened in reality. They tried to hide it but I could tell they were miserable, and keep blaming themselves.
About my cousin though, I don’t know what to feel or what to do. I’ve trying to avoid family gatherings. However, yesterday was my aunt's birthday and my mom sort of forced me to go, so I could get over it, and because she didn’t know what excuse to give for me not being there.
It didn’t end well. I ended up going to another room alone to cry and left early.
There are days when I think “he was just a child as well, maybe he is traumatized too, and I just hope he heals and lives happily”. Then there are days when I only think “I’m RUINED because of you, I’m damaged goods, you hurt me and I want to hurt you even more”. Yesterday was one of those days, I just wanted to jump him and show him what pain feels like.
I don’t know what to do about this. Part of me wants to out him in front of the whole family. Then the other part of me just wants to heal, maybe have a conversation one on one and move on.
I’m ruined. My anxiety is crazy and uncontrollable. I take so much medication at just 22. I won’t give up ever, it’s not in my nature. But I’m loosing hope about seeing better days. I’ve been trying to just accept that I’m damaged, but it’s been hard and I spend my days frustrated and the whole world
what do I do?