Re: Advice for future victims who read this thread

PLEASE, describe your own experiences with regard to yourself, and avoid the temptation to "advise" anyone else on what to do, how their parent(s) will feel, what their parent(s) will believe, what they will do, etc. If you experienced denial, dismissal, and disbelief, I am so sorry for you, but it is reckless to make blanket statements and assertions. Make your points with regard to your own experiences in a new thread as this one is over 7 years old.

Using the term, "brainwash" with regard to parents' responses is also dangerous. Not every abusive situation is the same as the next, although there are predictable patterns of behavior and "denial" is often a reaction until the individual has had time to process the devastating information. Human beings are not perfect and don't always respond in a healthy way, but that is absolutely not the same as "brainwash."

If you need to process past experiences, that's "normal" and 100% okay.

Brightest blessings