Alcohol and Substance Abuse
Many child abuse victims use alcohol and substance abuse to ‘numb’ the emotional pain of their abuse, often without knowing why they do it. After a while it becomes a habit and can become ingrained in who they are. Breaking that habit can feel like it is simply too hard with all of the other feelings and emotions you are dealing with including the pressures of life.
I know you don’t want to hear it. But alcohol and drugs are probably making your ability to deal with the trauma worse.
Interesting fact
The best regulator that managers your emotional stability is SLEEP and specifically REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Studies have shown that alcohol and marijuana significantly impacts your REM sleep. It is why alcoholics suffer from DTs (delirium tremors) and why marijuana uses have the most vivid dreams after quitting. Your brain needs REM sleep!
Start by simply being mindful of what you are putting into your body. How it makes you feel? Is it making you better man? What excuses do you use to keep doing it?
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LOUD FENCE EVENT Easter Saturday 2025
Let's address some of the myths and facts about surviving child abuse as a male adult. We'll address issues such as: "If I’m a victim then I’ll be an abuser"; "What if I am gay because I was sexually abused"; "All abusers are male"; "I got aroused, I must have liked it"; "My offender must have been gay".
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD is a mental health condition that is triggered by a traumatic event. Signs and symptoms can follow immediately following the traumatic event or can lay dormant for years after.
Just because you experienced a traumatic event doesn’t mean you will have PTSD. Only 12% of Australians will experience PTSD. There are many factors that influence whether a person will go on to have PTSD following a traumatic event. However, sexually abused men in childhood are 10 times more likely to qualify for a diagnosis of PTSD in comparison to the general community.
Only a psychologist or psychiatrist can diagnose PTSD.
