A New Mission

Domestic Abuse has recently come onto my radar more closely than ever before for several reasons. This is why there have been some allusions to this topic on my blog and social media pages.

Of course, I have encountered it before in life as it is, sadly, relatively common. I have met victims of domestic abuse through my job and have also been distantly aware of it in other parts of my life.

But, more than one person that I know personally have been going through situations of this nature, by chance, simultaneously. Due to now having exposure to it at a closer level, I have learnt an awful lot about it and how horrendous it can be from a victim’s perspective. I have read further about it in much more detail including seeing accounts from many other victims.

I am incensed by what victims have to put up with. They sustain the abuse in the first place which is hard enough to cope with. Then they struggle to be believed when it all comes out in the open for whatever reason. Perpetrators can often have narcissistic traits and attempt to manipulate the world around them by portraying themselves as blameless and making out their victim is the one with the issues; and are often successful in these attempts to brainwash others, at least in the first instance. Such injustice!

The blog image shows a ‘GDASS’ poster; this is our local support service in Gloucestershire. One of the people I have referred to has been supported by this service and, wow, what an amazing service it is – but, as with many such services, could do with more funds and support in order to do the best it can for everybody who needs them. Hence my plans to do a ‘piano-athon’ fundraiser for them (once I’ve practised for a bit longer!).

Me being me – passionate about right and wrong, honesty and justice – I feel compelled to try and help people going through this; a LOT more progress needs to be made, both in terms of morally appropriate outcomes and also just simply making sure these individuals (and their families) receive enough support in what is one of the most traumatic experiences anyone can go through.

As most people that follow me know, this blog evolved as my writing about my own mental health problems last year was well-received. The blog and social media postings are very diverse now; partly about mental health still but also anything in day to day life that I think is worth sharing. I am honoured that I am still gaining followers (particularly as I think most of what I post is basically petty drivel!) and therefore I feel I have a platform that I can use to try and do my bit for these people. This may be through sharing resources, writing about Domestic Abuse, portraying information about how it is from victims’ perspectives, using my recent learning more fully with my patients at work – and then the fundraising.

I may only be one person, but I am one person with a strong fire within me and am hoping that I can make a difference in some way; even if I can only bring about a positive effect for a few people, it will be worth it.