Multiple Voices

Carnival Edition July 2009: The Body

Another edition of the 'Blog Carnival Recovery from Sexual Abuse' is out. The latest topic we explored was the impact of sexual abuse on a person's body. As always, a wide variety of contributions have been posted and I trust you will find interesting information. Follow this link 

The Body Pays The Price

Leonie was very tired. Her shoulders have dropped and her head had fallen forward resting on her chest. Unable to muster the strength needed for balancing her head upright on her fatigued body, Leonie feels the floor opening and becoming a vortex inviting her into the never ending downwards spiral.  She hears a seductive whisper beckoning her to succumb, “Let go, let go. You have fought long enough. You can rest now!”

DID And The Body: Driving A Courtesy Car

Whenever I bring my car to the garage for service I have to ‘play it right’ to get a courtesy car. I can’t just go and be sure to have one given to me. The usual answer is “…sorry madam, there are no cars left.” I have to put myself into the shoes of the car people to get a courtesy car. For example, I walk around their cars for sale and let drop in passing that I am starting to look for a new car. I usually also mention that “…this is my third car I bought from you people”. More often than not, that’ll get me a courtesy car.

The Impact of Abuse

The trauma of sexual abuse is most harmful to a person’s self-development because it signifies the severing of intersubjective connections with caring others. Honneth (1995b, p. 132) understands sexual abuse as the withholding of recognition through love that deprives a person of “…The successful integration of physical and emotional qualities [which are] subsequently broken up from the outside, thus lastingly destroying the most fundamental form of practical relations-to-self, namely, one’s underlying trust in oneself”.