This week is Mental Health Awareness Week. The theme this year is ‘Loneliness’ so one of our Trauma Ambassadors Rosie has shared her experiences of loneliness whilst going through domestic abuse.
“Loneliness affects so many people in such different ways however when going through domestic abuse, I felt so lonely. My personal experience was after I left the relationship. I felt like I was the only person going through this and no one understood.
People would say to me:
“Why didn’t you just leave?”
“Aren’t you embarrassed that you put up with that?”
“Don’t you think you should of stayed to avoid this?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you was going through this?”
When my property started the repossession route in September 2020, again I thought I was the only one that had experienced this. I felt like my life was over, I’d never be able to move out again and would be the only one out of my friends never being able to live a “normal” life. Little did I know that even though my property is still in the repossession stages and I’m still awaiting to be set free financially from him, that my life would change.
Sharing my story made me realise that so many people, people I didn’t even know, supported me and found me inspiring. That’s when I realised, actually I am not so lonely after all. To all the individuals going through domestic abuse, our stories are all different, but I have been there and there is light at the end of the tunnel. You will get through this.”
If you would like to find out more about our Trauma Ambassador Group, you can read about them here. If you have experienced trauma and would like to raise awareness and help improve services, you can get involved with the group here.