I read the letter to children, it made me cry
To the world outside everything was fine, a normal middle class family.
FREE Helpline
0800 358 3456
Home Isolated with the family secret Page 14
To the world outside everything was fine, a normal middle class family.
To anyone that has gone through a similar thing I would like to say: things get better, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
“Don’t trust, don’t talk, don’t feel,” these are the rules of a dysfunctional family.
I wanted people to understand, to know what I was going through, but no one understands unless they’ve experienced it themselves and I was too messed up to let people get close.
I have had the courage to heal the sickness inside me. To rid myself of the shame and blame and guilt that was never mine anyway.
There was a silence filled with clanging feelings of humiliation and doubt and fear.
It’s vital that we take away the shame from the illness of alcoholism, so that people aren’t frightened to come forward and ask for help.
But you will keep the secret to yourself that isn’t even a secret.. You don’t talk about it, you don’t talk about yourself, you don’t talk about your family, you keep your hopes and dreams to yourself but you don’t know why.
I am haunted by the idea that the telling of these dark truths is an unwarranted betrayal of my mother.
The fight to stay sane is sometimes so difficult there were, and are, times when I wonder if it was all worth it.
To find out more about our events and activities, subscribe to our mailing list
We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp’s privacy practices.