I'm really confused and a little scared right now. It's finally dawned how evil my family has been to me. What can I do now?

Man, I haven't felt a need to dust off this throwaway for ages, but I feel for you. It sounds like what you went through was more extreme than what I did, but I am well acquainted with the difficulties of coming from a background that will cause even trained professionals to raise their eyebrows and start backing away slowly. (Though thanks to whomever suggested people who deal with ritual abuse; I may give that a try myself.) And, yes, a great deal of the trouble I've had since escaping is with people who want to use me to get at my abusers; oh, the irony.

Sorry to tell you, the only positives I have taken away from my interactions with the mental health field as an adult is that I am not suffering from any biologically based mental illnesses. The underlying assumption is still generally that I'm lying/delusional/etc. Generally therapists want to focus on my paranoia, which I am uninterested in as they really are out to get me and this is how I survive. However, I suggest that you do the same regardless; getting actual scientific confirmation that it wasn't me was what allowed me to kickstart my recovery.

The big thing that really helped is that as a youngster I inadvertently stumbled into a set of sought after professional skills that allow me a great deal of flexibility in life. I changed my name, and changed it again when they figured it out. I do not allow myself to rely on any one particular source of income. I move every few years. I abruptly end relationships (never gets any easier). I am rabidly conscientious about internet security (this is as close as I get to social media). I change cell phones/providers every time I realize I haven't done so in awhile. I do not allow people to take pictures of me, and I generally wear some kind of hat/sunglasses combo when I'm out and about. I drastically change my appearance every once in awhile.

The reason I give you all these tips (and I'm just scratching the surface) despite your question being about relationships is because there is no self without security. You need to find a way to create some inviolable space, even if it is tiny and private, that will allow you to start muddling through all this on your own, because some experiences are so uniquely terrible there really isn't anyone who can help. But once you find that blade of grass to hang onto you'll be amazed at how the rest of it starts falling into place.

You know them better than anyone. You might not be able to take on all of them at once, but you do have the skills to navigate through this; they taught them to you.

PM me if you'd like to talk more. Good luck.

/r/raisedbynarcissists Thread