Trigger Warning//Abuse

It feels selfish and silly to write this because everything that's been going on the last few days isn't about me but given my extreme personal reaction I did feel the need to say something in case anybody else was feeling the same way and was afraid of...
coming off as trying to "make it all about them." It's not the intent but it does need to be addressed.

I've touched on my own personal history with abuse a few times here on twitter. I've never gone into detail and I'm not going to go into full detail now. That's a part of my
history that I'm not ready to share with the entire world yet, if ever. I will say that I am a survivor of abuse of all different kinds: physical, sexual, emotional, mental, and it came at the hands of different adults who were supposed to love and protect me.
Abuse is not a word to be thrown around casually or lightly. I never thought I was a person who would be triggered by a word so deeply. But I am and I was. Seeing the word linked to someone I admire was incredibly difficult because when I think of abuse I think specifically
of the things that I went through, I relived it, and it brought me to a very bad place yesterday.

I ask that going forward people are mindful of their words and how they can impact the people around them, whether on purpose or not. You have no idea what other people have been
through or have dealt with or are currently dealing with. Be aware of how you interact with such an incredibly difficult subject. Do not use "abuse(r)" as a token word that has no meaning or you think can be applied to anything.
It means a lot. It's not a joke. It's very real, very serious & survivors deserve the respect of having something so personal and horrible be treated as such. They do not deserve to log on and be slapped in the face with something so potentially harmful to them relentlessnessly.
Also, do not attempt to shame survivors. You have no idea what they associate with the word abuse and why. You're not entitled to their traumas, they owe you no explanations to why they are or are not speaking out. To force them to recite a narrative that you deem appropriate
is just as harmful as to what you're trying to speak out against. Don't say, "You're being too extreme." To them, it's not extreme. To them, this was/is their life. Abuse comes in many big and little forms, each one valid and each one deserving of respect.
You can follow @Heatherina159.
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