- Category:
- Common Interest - Health & Wellness
- Description:
- Everyone has a story, ours have happy endings. Every victim has a voice, this is your opportunity to speak. Focusing on the positive aspects of recovery, we monitor the group daily, to hear what you have to say. Come on in and introduce yourself. We're glad you're here.
- Privacy Type:
- Open: All content is public.
- Joanna
- Co-Founder & Project Coordinator
Shirley
The Survivor Archives Project
Join- Name:
- The Survivor Archives Project
- Category:
- Common Interest - Health & Wellness
- Description:
- Everyone has a story, ours have happy endings. Every victim has a voice, this is your opportunity to speak. Focusing on the positive aspects of recovery, we monitor the group daily, to hear what you have to say. Come on in and introduce yourself. We're glad you're here.
- Privacy Type:
- Open: All content is public.
- News:
- ==================================
Welcome to The Survivor Archives Project
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We are so glad you decided to join us. We believe everyone has a story tell, especially you. You are invited to join us in writing your story, and we'll help you find resources that will assist you in this.
This group is monitored several times a day, so we're always here for you. If you have a question or comment that needs immediate attention, please feel free to contact me directly, and I will respond as soon as possible. If your response requires research, please allow up to 24 hours for a reply.
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WARNING: MATURE SUBJECT MATTER!
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Before you read any further, please be aware this group contains mature subject matter. The content of some message may contain adult themes, suggestions of violence and references to abuse. As a result, some readers should exercise discretion to avoid triggers.
In order to comply with Facebook group Terms of Use, nudity, pornography, drug use, advertisements, spam, racism, hate speech, targeting, direct calls for violence and excessive gore or violent content is prohibited. Any message that contains any of these items will be immediately deleted and the author warned once. A second violation will result in removal from the group. We must maintain strict adherence to the Terms of Use to be able to keep the group running well on Facebook. Thank you for understanding.
If you feel your life story of recovery relies on prohibited content in order for the reader to identify with your abuse, then contact me for assistance.
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What Is The Survivor Archives Project?
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It's the voice of every victim who has lived to tell their story. Whatever form your abuse took, this is your time to speak - to let yourself uncover the truth. Focusing on the positive aspects of recovery, our survivors tell their stories of successful healing of previous abuse, usually from their childhood. No two stories are the same, and no coping mechanism works the same for everyone.
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How Do I Write My Story?
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For starters, there is no wrong way to tell your story. It is yours. You can tell it any way you like. We will provide you with resources, feedback, assistance, and suggestions you can use to help you tell your story. But it's your story, not ours. We each have our own already. So feel free to begin writing at any point you like, and progress the story in whatever way you see fit.
Did you know that ever 3 months we feature a survivor story on our website? That's right. We collect stories from all over, and select a story that strongly illustrates the survivors success in overcoming abuse. Then we feature it on www.SurvivorArchivesProject.com for a full 3 months, until the next feature story is listed. Then your story remains in the archives and will continue to be read by everyone.
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Why Should I Write My Story?
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One of the lessons we have learned over the many years is that professional counseling, therapy and psychiatry sometimes isn't enough. In every case, the survivor is ultimately responsible for their own recovery. That means we have to find our own ways to cope, to forgive, to heal and to move on. Some have nobody to help, so they have to go it alone. Your story can help. You can reach out to that one and say, "Hey, maybe I can help. This is how I made past all my crap. See if it works for you!" Every story is unique, and every recovery process is unique. We know yours has the power to change a victim into a survivor too.
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Joanna's Story
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I'll start by providing some background information into my past. I grew up in an unstable home and was raised by a mother who was mentally ill and who drank herself into a daily stupor (making her mental problems worse). She was unpredictable, miserable, and physically abusive to my siblings and me. The physical abuse continued until I was around 15. I was also sexually abused by an uncle from age 8 until age 12. In the end I developed a very skewed belief system from the lies that I believed growing up.
The older I got, the more I spent every day hiding from things that caught up with me at night in the darkness of my bedroom. Worrying mostly about my family, for years I cried myself to sleep. The nightmares and flashbacks at times became unbearable. I'd go for days with just a few hours of sleep, and what sleep I did manage to get was spent tossing and turning. I never felt whole. I had no sense of who I was or where I fit in. I ended up guilt-ridden for any success I achieved, and yet, at the same time, none of it was ever good enough. I was never good enough.
Then I suffered a nervous breakdown. Waking up in a mental hospital with no idea of how I got there was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. By that time, I had been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and with non-epileptic seizures, which were brought on by the intensity of the post traumatic stress. Later, I was also diagnosed with a rare dissociative disorder. All of this stemmed directly from the abuse and trauma I suffered and my inability to cope with it in a healthy manner. The symptoms of both disorders only worsened and by the following year I had to quit my job or get fired. I had used up all allotted paid medical leave, vacation days, and personal days during the breakdown. Over the next 16 months I was in and out of psychiatric hospitals. When all was said and done, I had been hospitalized approximately 12 times in only 2 years. My last hospitalization was over four years ago and lasted for five weeks. I left determined I would never be in another mental hospital.
Finally, slowly, I began to build myself back up. I couldn't be the person I was before my breakdown but I learned to build on the strengths that I had all along. Through the help of my therapist, caseworker, local mental health center, friends, and family (consisting of my siblings and grandparents) I got stronger.
Today I'm in school and earning my degree in social work. In July of 2007 I had the strength to leave behind my 6-year relationship with my fiance, whom I dearly loved. He has his own story, and later began his own recovery through counseling and AA. My relationship with him was hindering my recovery due to his denial of his then untreated alcoholism and addictions. Leaving was something I never could have had the strength to even consider without the healing and wholeness I have today.
The complete story is here:
http://www.survivorarchivesproject.com/archives/2007/12/22/joanna-m-doane.html
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Resources
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Keep an eye on the links section of the group for related websites, suggested reading material and other items that we have discovered are very beneficial to the recovery process.
Again, thank you for being here.
Joanna
