Validation is a b*tch

During the first three months of 2007, several members of the psychological community and/or survivors opened an extensive online questionnaire for survivors of extreme abuse. Over 1,400 survivors from 31 countries participated. Word of the survey was spread through the internet and therapists with clients who were survivors. It was a "spread the word" campaign. Survivors who knew survivors who knew support groups of survivors.

The term "extreme abuse" encompasses all that I have been addressing plus elements I won't specifically address here, but am providing the link if you wish more details. It also is one explanation of why there was a "surge" of adults with a diagnosis of DID in the 80s and 90s.

My motivation for finding the results was to support my presentation here that the common denominator for extreme abuse is organized pedophilia. The following was copied from the Extreme Abuse Survey results:

Listed below are the five most frequently reported “yes” responses for the memories, possible aftereffects, and personal experiences sections [of the survey].

Memories

• Receiving physical abuse from perpetrators
• Sexual abuse by multiple perpetrators
• Being threatened with death if I ever talked about the abuse
• Witnessing physical abuse by perpetrators on other victims

Possible Aftereffects

• Sleep problems
• Painful body memories
• Posttraumatic stress disorder
• Unusual fears
• Beliefs indoctrinated by perpetrator(s)

The five most frequently reported healing methods that were checked either “much help” or “great help” are:

• Individual Psychotherapy/Counseling
• Supportive Friends
• Creative Writing
• Personal Prayer/Meditation
• Journaling

As you can see, the most common elements of memories match what survivors of organized pedophilia most recall with the same aftereffects. Do you see the most helpful healing methods? That's all that is needed. It's a longer therapy process than most but it is psychotherapy. Yet, survivors are denied or greatly limited in their choices of finding a therapist trained and/or willing to work with clients with DID. There is no special ingredient to healing. No exorcism. Hospitalization may be needed but is not necessarily a component of healing.

It is known there are far more than 1,471 survivors worldwide. Many survivors do not have access to a computer and wouldn't have known of the survey. In many cases, if a survivor had heard of the survey, they wouldn't have been able to participate due to lack of computer knowledge. And there is the unknown number who have yet to begin to remember or "suicided" (committed suicide due to internal messages to self destruct).

Abuse at the hands of multiple pedophiles is more widespread. Considering 20 million Americans are believed to be victims of parental incest, one can only imagine what percentage adapted with DID. Even using the common statistic often refuted in the community of therapists who treat DID of 1 in 100 (of the entire population), that is a staggering statistic. Then translate that to worldwide.

DID is not rare. It is also not common. It just is. It is a response to repeated traumatic abuse in childhood. Incest victims meet that definition but not all incest begins prior to age 6. DID is not a choice. After a lifetime of unknown secrets, survivors must learn to remain mostly secretive to survive with a semi-normal life in society because of the skewed perception of DID. And that sucks even more than validation.

A special thanks to the brave souls who spent untold hours working on developing the survey and implementing it in a manner to be accepted into psychological publications for the world to know. If readers of this blog choose to visit the Extreme Abuse Survey results, be forewarned. Survivors were subjected to what is categorized as torture while young children. It's intense.