"After the abuse ends, people think the pain ends too. But what no one tells you is that sometimes the loudest voice isn't the abuser's anymore-it's the one that settles inside you. It whispers: "You're broken." "You're used." "You don't deserve better." And over time, that voice doesn't just whisper. It becomes the rhythm of your thoughts, the lens through which you see yourself. That's what I mean when I say the trauma keeps talking."
"In the months after my assault, I didn't have words for what I was feeling. I just knew that every choice I made seemed to come from a place of damage. I found myself in situations that felt eerily familiar-letting people use me, letting hands roam without question. I wasn't saying "yes" because I wanted to; I was saying it because a voice inside had already decided I wasn't worth more."
After abuse ends, an internalized negative voice can persist, telling survivors they are broken, used, and undeserving. That voice can become the rhythm of thoughts and the lens through which survivors see themselves, driving choices that repeat harm and tolerate boundary violations. Trauma rewrites internal scripts, burying the part that knows self-worth under pain and self-blame. Survivors may comply not from desire but from exhaustion and a belief that they lack the right to refuse. Recovery requires recognizing the trauma's ongoing influence, creating a nurturing inner voice, and rebuilding boundaries over time.
Read at Tiny Buddha
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